This week, the Broadway Bound Theater Festival (background here) launches at the Powerhouse Theatre in Waveny, presented by the Town Players of New Canaan.
Alex McFarlane
We put some questions to Alex McFarlane, a contributing playwright whose work, “Pandaemonium,” debuts Friday (tickets here).
Here’s our exchange.
[Note: We’re hoping to connect with each playwright in the festival, so look out for future installments.]
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New Canaanite: Give our readers some of your own background. When did you start playwriting?
Alex McFarlane: I studied art at the School of the Arts, Columbia University in the early 70s. After graduation, I moved downtown and was a pioneer in Soho and Tribeca when they still had sweatshops and warehouses. My accomplishments in the New York art world are exhibits, reviews, awards and inclusion in many public and private collections spanning a thirty-year career. While in art school, I developed an interest in the theater, particularly the Theater of the Absurd with playwrights such as Samual Beckett and early Harold Pinter. I didn’t attempt to write a play until ten years ago when I decided to write about a parrot named Alex, an acronym for Avian Learning Experiment. He was educated at Harvard University by a research scientist named Irene Pepperberg. Alex eventually became President of the United States, at least in my play, Birds Should Fly Free. It was performed in the New York International Fringe Festival. Laura Collins-Hughes theater critic for the New York Times described it as a political satire.
How did you come to hear about the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival?
I was taking acting lessons at the Powerhouse theater and found out about the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival through the Town Players of New Canaan website. For years, I had attended the Town Players performances, and saw the festival as a great opportunity to have one of my plays performed at such a prestigious theater.
Here’s the description of your play, Pandaemonium, on the Town Players of New Canaan website: “Divorcees Judith and Telfer find themselves stuck in the unfortunate situation of being together again – in Hell, located deep in a labyrinth of tunnels in the substrata of Grand Central Station. Against her better judgment, Judith entertains a soul pact with Satan, who wants her to rekindle her relationship with her ex in order to unfold his ungodly plan here on earth. If she’s successful, there will be Hell to pay.” How did you come up with this?
If you’ve ever taken the train from New Canaan to Grand Central station, I’m sure you’ve often wondered what was going on in that long, dark tunnel from 96th Street to 42nd Street. You pass corridors with solitary doors lit by bare lightbulbs. Where do they lead to? For years I knew there was a play behind those mysterious doors, but what was it? Then it dawned on me that one of the doors led to Hell, deep in the substrata underneath the station. As soon as I got the idea, lots of images, characters and situations tumbled out.
What has this experience been like for you, seeing your written words come to life on stage? How are you feeling about the Aug. 9 premiere?
The festival has been a unique experience. The first communication I received after I had been accepted, was a two-page, single spaced critique outlining what was wrong with my script! Thus began the long voyage to Broadway. First, I had to admit that most of the criticism was spot on. Lenore Skomal, playwright and co-founder of the festival, led me through the wilderness of rewriting – concept, arc, logic and above all, how to keep the audience entertained and caring about the characters they will meet in Hell. Between Lenore and my wonderful director, Deborah Burke, I can assure your readers that they will not be disappointed when they see Pandaemonium at the Powerhouse theater.
What else, if anything, would you like to tell our readers about yourself, your play or the festival?
I have taught drawing, painting and watercolors for the last twenty years at the Silvermine School of Art right here in New Canaan. It is a unique school dedicated exclusively to art. As one would expect in our neighborhood, the students are well educated, talented and stimulating. And conversely, teaching at Silvermine has a been stimulating experience for me.