Donya K. Washington directs mostly new work (with Patricia Ione Lloyd, brokeMC, Charity Henson-Ballard, Fernanda Coppel, Jesse Cameron Alick, Justine Levine, to name a few). She’s worked with Subjective, Rising Circle, Redshirt Entertainment, Rattlestick, The Civilians, Williamstown as well as with the 52nd Street Project and Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. Training: MFA, Directing – Brown University/Trinity Rep; BFA, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Member of the 2008/2010 Women’s Project Lab. Van Lier Directing Fellow 2009, Second Stage Theatre. Member 2010-2011 Civilians’ R&D Group. Next – with New Brooklyn Theatre – Jump Jim Crow.
TMT: Tell us about yourself, something I couldn’t guess by seeing your work or even looking you right in the eyes.
DKW: I’m a big fan of the CW show The Vampire Diaries. Really. I follow most of the writing staff, and several of the producers, on Twitter.
TMT: I know you’re a big fan of Twitter and its 140 character limit, and while some find that, well, limiting… you embrace it. What sort of potential theatrical impact, if any, do you see Twitter having on theatre now?
DKW: The Neo-Futurists use Twitter in an interesting way – their Twitter Plays are funny and often good lessons on dramatic structure in brief. There’s a protagonist, something happens to them, it’s resolved in some way within 140 characters.
TMT: You’re the lead artist of God, Man, & Devil playing Oct 17 – 21st at The Brick. Have you ever met one yourself? How did it go down?
DKW: Well I’ve met Man and he’s a bit problematic, especially on the subway. God… personally, I see God in things like the view as I fly into Anchorage, Alaska. Or the mountains in California. The Devil – quand on parle du loup on en voit la queue. When you speak of the wolf, you see his tail. So of him I shall not speak.
TMT: God, Man, & Devil was written by Jacob Gordin in 1900. Is there a truth in the play that 112 years can’t obscure?
DKW: The play centers around the question – is it better for a man to succeed as an individual, even at the cost to his family/community; or is it better for a man to sacrifice personal success for family/community success? That was an important question then, and an important one for us to spend time with during this election season.
TMT: God, Man, & Devil is one of the most famous Yiddish plays and also a mystical deviation from traditional domestic Yiddish dramas. Including Target Margin, you’ve worked with a few theatre companies (The Civilians, Subjective Theatre Company) that challenge what theatre can be. Has there been a particular memorable moment where you found yourself in unfamiliar theatrical territory? What was the result?
DKW: Mystical deviation? Hadn’t thought about it that way…huh. I think of it as a Yiddish Faust. Hmmm…sometimes I think I’m in unfamiliar theatrical territory – but almost invariably I find out that I’ve been home all along. It’s kind of like Oz – I wake up and you were there, and you were there and you too Toto!
TMT: Yes, lions and tigers and bears oh my! And I think I follow you… the journey outward is the journey inward. But what about the flying monkeys?! Has there been a moment in God, Man, & Devil or possibly another piece you’ve worked on where you were just thrown on your ass, theatrically speaking? Where you were totally caught off guard and like… yeah we just went there.
DKW: Every play is like that, no? Or at least, I hope every process is like that. Especially during early work on our feet – it’s just organized mistake making and mystery solving. Eventually, someone uncovers the key to the mystery or makes a really HUGE mistake that turns out to be totally genius. And there’s always that point in the process where it’s just a mess and seems impossible. And then someone makes a mistake (or has a revelation) and – voom – everything is clear again. In this play – we were in the thick of it, and someone accidentally stepped on someone else’s line and suddenly we had the great “Ah-ha!” moment. The play opened up and we ran with the idea.
TMT: Finally Donya, give one word of non-theatre related wisdom.
DKW: Be considerate to people on the subway and remember it’s not your own personal limousine (L train I’m looking at you).
God, Man, & Devil runs at The Brick Oct 17-21 at 7:30pm
Tickets available HERE