The Broadway Bound Theater Festival (background here) runs through Sept. 1 at the Powerhouse Theatre in Waveny, presented by the Town Players of New Canaan.
We put some questions to Brian Mulhern, a contributing playwright whose work, “It’s Not You,” opens at 8 p.m. Friday and runs through Sunday (tickets here).
Here’s our exchange.
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New Canaanite: Give our readers some of your own background. When did you start playwriting?
Brian Mulhern
Brian Mulhern: I’ve been “writing” ever since childhood. I didn’t attempt playwriting until early 2021. My eventual career path initially revealed itself early on in college. Once I decided to pursue entertainment as a profession, I was made aware of the fact that Jay Leno, who was a fill-in host for Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show” at the time, would accept freelance monologue jokes from writers if he thought they were any good. I submitted ten for his review, and a few weeks later, he called to hire me. In my early twenties, having that on my resume led to work in both Southern New England radio (I hosted various morning shows for 30 years) and a writing partnership with the late, great Phil Hartman. He was in his final year at “SNL” and hired my brother Kevin and myself for what was to have been his next project. He had us both head down to 30 Rock to show us the ropes and we continued working with him right up until his tragic passing in 1998. That generated other showbiz related opportunities for us, including writing three times for “The MTV Movie Awards,” with (and for) the likes of Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Patton Oswalt, Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte, along with the opportunity to write and serve as extras on the set of “Friends” for the series’ DVD/special features releases.
My first play was inspired by my mom’s passing during the first wave of COVID. Much like many other historically shared experiences, such as the AIDS epidemic and 9/11 which eventually inspired other plays, I felt this was a moment in time which similarly needed to be documented. What many hadn’t endured was the loss of an immediate family member at a time when personal goodbyes, or appropriately well attended wakes and funerals became an impossibility. Complications such as these took a further toll on families — particularly for those who may have emotionally had unfinished business with those they had lost. None of this was on my radar until my stepson, Jonathan (who was doing set design for a local theater at the time), told my wife he’d one day like to design the set for a play he had yet to write. I saw the potential for this to be a bonding opportunity between us and that’s what put it all into motion.
How did you come to hear about the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival?
Rita Maron, who runs the theater where my first play (“The Butterfly Boys”) had been staged, had already read portions of the next one I’d been working on in late 2023 (“It’s Not You”). She made me aware of this opportunity and encouraged me to pursue it. Rita was also the director of “The Butterfly Boys” and will again be performing in that capacity for “It’s Not You.”
Here’s the description of your play, “It’s Not You,” on the Town Players of New Canaan website: “Radio funnyman and serial dater Neil Doyle longs for a life partner, but can’t seem to break his habit of manipulating would-be girlfriends into breaking up with him. When he finally meets the woman of his dreams, he finds himself forced with a decision: Grapple with his deep-seated fears of commitment from the past or live out the rest of his life alone.” Where did the idea for your play originate?
It was actually inspired by a 2023 article I’d read about something known within the Gen Z dating community as “delicate dumping.” It’s basically the equivalent of “quiet quitting” a job in the hopes that your employer will ultimately dismiss you instead. Why endure all the awkwardness and drama of breaking up with a significant other when you can more simply alter your own behaviors in such a way that will cause she/he/them to do that dirty work for you?!
What has this experience been like for you, seeing your written words come to life on stage? How are you feeling about the premiere?
As I’ve been fortunate enough to see my words come to life in numerous other capacities (including for the staging of my first play), I will say it never gets old! It runs the entire gamut of emotions: from excitement, to an adrenaline rush, fear, anxiety, pride, satisfaction, vulnerability, anticipation and nerves. As for this particular premiere, this is the first play I’ve written which I’d like to THINK is primarily a comedy. The audience will let me know if it is or it isn’t.
What else, if anything, would you like to tell our readers about yourself, your play or the festival?
Speaking to the festival specifically, it’s been both a lot of hard work and an absolute pleasure. I’ve never rewritten anything 13 times…until now. It reinforced something I’d already believed — you’re never too old to learn something, improve upon what you believe to be your strengths, or to find a new mentor. At the age of 54, I’ve found the latter in the form of Lenore Skomal (who runs the festival). This play is so much better than it would have been otherwise because of her. Her batting average on delivering legitimate notes is mind blowing. Whether she likes it or not, she’s always going to be in my life. The degree to which both Rita, and Lenore, have made me a better writer is something for which I’ll forever be grateful. Otherwise? My wife Carla and I will both have minor acting roles in this upcoming play. That will also serve as her onstage debut! We’ll have been married for 11 years as of this upcoming September, have known each other since we were kids and have been a couple for going on 18 years now. We live in Chepachet, Rhode Island with the aforementioned Jonathan and our 6-year-old Beagle, Rerun.