Interview: Playwright Olivia Dufault of FOR WANT OF A HORSE

The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of For Want of a Horse, a darkly comic, deeply human exploration of love, desire, and unconventional relationships written by trans playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer Olivia Dufault. Directed by Echo associate artistic director Elana Luo, it opens April 18 for a six-week run, through May 25, at Atwater Village Theatre with three Pay-What-You-Want previews are set for April 15, April 16 and April 17.

Jenny Soo, Joey Stromberg, Griffin Kelly
Production photos by Cooper Bates

For Want of a Horse centers around Calvin, a man devoted to his wife Bonnie. But when he confesses that to move forward, he needs to open their relationship to include his new romantic partner, there is one major complication. That partner would be Q-Tip - who happens to be a horse.
 
I decided to speak with playwright Olivia Dufault about her unconventional play, its genesis, why she decide to bring its world premiere to Los Angeles, and how she hopes audiences will react to what she calls a tale of “love, shame, and the human need for connection.”

Playwright Olivia Dufault. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Thanks for speaking with me, Olivia. Is this the first time one of your plays is being presented in Los Angeles? And if so, what influenced your decision to bring it here?

Yes! Honestly, all credit goes to the Echo Theater Company, particularly Chris Fields and Elana Luo, for ushering this play into existence. This is a challenging piece of material in many different regards, and the Echo’s enthusiasm for championing offbeat and audacious stories made them undeniable collaborators for this project.

The premise of For Want of a Horse is both startling and darkly funny. What first compelled you to turn such an unusual real-life story into a theatrical work?

When thinking of potential plays, I always look for stories that feel like they could uniquely exist only in this medium. I’ve long felt as if theater allows you to immerse yourself in unconventional perspectives -- those that belong to human beings obviously, but also animals, inanimate objects, and abstract concepts. When I thought of this insane premise, but with the inclusion of an actor playing the horse, giving voice to a point of view that would otherwise go unsaid, everything clicked together.

Griffin Kelly and Joey Stromberg as Q-Tip and Calvin

I have seen Edward Albee’s play The Goat in which a husband wants to include his lover, a goat, in his marriage and his wife’s reaction to it. Did that play inspire you in any way in your writing of For Want of a Horse?

Yes! For Want of a Horse is part of a distinguished pedigree of zoophilia-based theater. I’m an Albee fan, and first read The Goat in college. I loved it, but always felt like it played it a little... safe? For Want of a Horse navigates some of the more uncomfortable elements of human-animal “romantic relationships” that The Goat shied away from. In many ways, this play treats our protagonist, Calvin’s, interspecies attraction with dead seriousness, and in doing so, bizarrely, becomes wildly funny in a very different manner from Albee’s.

Joey Stromberg and Griffin Kelly

You’ve described feeling captivated, horrified, and amused by the source material. Exactly what was that and how did you balance those conflicting emotions in the tone of the play?

In reading the New York magazine interview that incited all of this, my initial impulse was to laugh at the absurdity (and horror) of the situation. And then, as I continued, I found myself deeply, deeply sad for everyone involved. The man. The wife. The horse. To have something teeter so strangely between comedy and tragedy felt incredibly resonant with me. I followed that impulse when writing — I’d chase lines that made me laugh, then immediately follow them up with sequences that made me tear up. The effect is, ideally, one of emotional whiplash in the best, most honest of ways.

Griffin Kelly

At its core, the play explores love and desire in unconventional forms. What questions about relationships were you most interested in asking?

What makes a meaningful, functional relationship? But even simpler: What makes a consensual relationship? And what sacrifices are we willing to make in the name of, ostensibly, love?

Joey Stromberg and Jenny Soo

Calvin’s journey involves opening his marriage in a very unexpected way. How did you approach writing the dynamics between Calvin and his wife, Bonnie?

I wanted to build Bonnie and Calvin’s relationship on a foundation of comfort, trust, and legitimate love. It would be all too easy to begin the play with Bonnie as an uncomfortable victim of this strange scenario, but she’s actually the one to suggest that she and Calvin open up their marriage, and finally purchase a horse. She can sense her husband’s deep-rooted despair, and conceives of the addition of this animal into their lives as the ultimate act of love. There’s that question again: what sacrifices are we willing to make for the sake of love?

Griffin Kelly and Joey Stromberg

Q-Tip as a character presents a unique challenge. How did you conceptualize and write a horse as a romantic partner without losing emotional authenticity?

When writing animals, I like for them to simultaneously exhibit signs of great wisdom, while also being incredibly, incredibly stupid. Q-Tip discusses some of the play’s grander themes — freedom, domination, domesticity — but she’s also freaking obsessed over apples. Additionally: Q-Tip cannot communicate with Calvin; she speaks only to us, the audience. In a lot of ways, this play is the culmination and interrogation of this type of anthropomorphism. To what extent does it allow us legitimate insight into the minds of beings we other? And how does it obscure what these animals actually are, and the way their brains operate?

Griffin Kelly and Joey Stromberg

The play deals with empathy and its limits. How do you want audiences to grapple with empathizing with a character whose choices may feel uncomfortable or even disturbing?

This question is at the central heart of For Want of a Horse. To what degree is empathy a useful skill to employ, and when does it serve to actually harm you? Ideally, audience members will find themselves surprised when and how they empathize with all the characters in this play, from Calvin, to Bonnie, to Q-Tip. Culturally, we’ve long been obsessed with antiheroes... in some ways, this story is taking that impulse and examining it under the weirdest microscope imaginable.

Steven Culp and Joey Stromberg

Your work often blends humor with deeper emotional or psychological themes. How does comedy function in this play in particular?

In this play, comedy acts as a bit of a smokescreen to access topics and emotions that we’d otherwise never engage with. In many ways, I want to recreate my own experience reading that New York magazine interview for others. I want laughter to gradually turn to tears. The two are, after all, all sorts of related.

Joey Stromberg and Jenny Soo

You have a background in television and graphic novels as well as theater. Did any of those storytelling forms influence how you structured or imagined this play?

I think my experiences in other mediums made me lean into what makes theater special. Sorry Babe: Pig in the City, but talking animals just don’t work that well in film! Theatergoers naturally suspend their disbelief in a way unique to this art form. I wanted to lean into that magic.

The Echo Theater Company is known for producing bold, unconventional work. How has your collaboration with the company shaped the development of this piece?

The Echo and I started collaborating on this play about two years ago. It’s gone through multiple readings, and evolved along the way. Elana Luo, the Echo’s associate artistic director and, director of For Want of a Horse, has been a vital part of this process; they’ve been my partner-in-crime, discussing the piece’s complicated topics, and delighting in its playful perversity. The Echo pushed this play to be more unapologetically fearless, which to me can only be an asset in art.

Griffin Kelly and Jenny Soo

What do you hope audiences ultimately take away from this story about love, shame, and the human need for connection?

Honestly, I hope audience members stagger out of this play reeling, awash in a complicated morass of conflicting emotions, thoughts, and opinions. Bring a companion to watch this play alongside! I promise an invigorating conversation afterwards.

Thanks so much!

Thank you!

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