AE:
How do you find collaborating with other artists?
JL: I never write songs or lyrics with anyone.
Maybe I should; but now it is a private process. In NYC I learned
a ton about playing with other musicians, and at the School
of Drama I get really excited about the notion of everybody
involved in the collaborative process being expertly trained
within their field. We have jujitsu stage managers, karate-chop
directors, nun-chuck designers, tsunami playwrights, and gorgeous
vapid actors. It’s pretty cool because everyone is a hot
shot, and I don’t know the first thing about designing
scenery, so it’s a relief to know that my collaborator
is a specialist in his field.
AE:
Tell us a little about your creative process i.e. What time
of day do you write/practice etc.? Any rituals you follow?
JL: I probably should. I should be one of those
writers who gets up at 4am and writes madly in the dim silence.
But I’m not a morning person. So mostly I just write when
I get an idea, or when I feel that it’s time. I’m
like a lemming who knows the right time to jump of the cliff.
I must say that it is one of my artist-writer goals to be more
regimented about writing. But for now, writing is a cathartic
project that knocks quietly on the door when it needs attention.
AE:
Where/Who/When do you find inspiration?
JL: By listening to other people talking about
their lives. I can be a totally cretinous thief of conversations;
if you’re talking to me, be careful, because it might
be a scene in my new play. Or I might quote you and make fun
of you in a song. And if you’re dating me, look out.
AE:
What are you working on now?
JL: I have several specific creative goals
that I want to pursue right now. In the most cursory terms,
these include a play about Marshal South, the Robinson Crusoe
of Southern California during the Depression, who became a national
obsession because the Saturday Evening Post published monthly
articles about his secluded mountaintop lifestyle. Another goal
of mine is to create several performance pieces about being
a lesbian or bisexual woman in America; there is a dearth of
plays about queer women and I intend to address that. Ever the
wistful solipsist, I care most about plays I see myself in:
women, GLBT folks, and liberal twenty-somethings struggling
to assert themselves.
AE:
Who are your musical influences?
JL: Ani
Difranco first excited me about the possibilities of confessional
and political songwriting. The Beatles ALWAYS blow my mind.
I’ve been influenced by Liz Phair, PJ Harvey, Simon and
Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, and Shawn Colvin. These days I listen
obsessively to Frou Frou, Nick Drake, 80’s hits, Elliott
Smith. I’m starting to really like Coldplay even though
I don’t want to. I wish I was influenced by Oingo Boingo
because I LOVE Danny Elfmans’ work, but it’s hard
to do with a guitar. Most of all I am influenced by the work
of my friends in the NYC East Village Sidewalk Café scene:
Casey Holford, Diane Cluck, Toby Goodshank, Regina Spektor,
Dan Fishback, Linda Draper, Kimya Dawson, Danny Kelly. All of
these people should be wildly famous. A few of them are getting
there!
AE:
Literary influences?
JL: All the poets above; and writers Lorrie
Moore, Barbara Kingsolver, Jeanette Winterson, Isabel Allende,
Tom Robbins. I’ve learned a lot from Hemingway. Playwrights:
Tony Kushner (INCREDIBLE ALL THE TIME), Edward Albee, Tennessee
Williams, Sherry Kramer, Marsha Norman. Eve Ensler (Vagina
Monologues, The Good Body) is particularly inspiring to
me because of her socially relevant work, her performances and
self-production, and willingness to enter communities with her
work.
AE:
Anything else you’d like to add?
JL: Thanks for the interview!
Visit
jennlindsay.com
for more information
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