Tell us a little about yourself. I was born and raised in the Northeast part of Philadelphia in Lawncrest. I went to a very secluded, strict charter school close to Bensalem where I felt very oppressed and like an outcast. Attending SLA has helped me discover who I am as a person as well as who I want to be in the future. After my senior year, I plan to attend university and study towards a career in engineering! I also plan to take up a minor in theatre to continue my playwriting career. What was it like to hear that you were a winner of the Annual Playwriting Festival? When I got that phone call and email; the joy and pride I felt was surreal. I have always had a really deep love for theater and everything about it. In my past, I never got the chance to showcase my writing, directing, or acting skills, and to have this kind of opportunity from such an amazing company such as PYP is a blessing, really. Tell us about Prom Queen. What inspired you to write it? Prom Queen is about a teenage boy at the peak of his senior year preparing to go to his Senior Prom! He is very excited about it, but deals with both external and internal conflicts. He has this desire to be himself and feel like himself wholly a this prom by wearing a dress instead of a suit. He is hesitant because he believes that his loved ones and others in his life won’t accept him for his identity and ways of expression. This play shows his emotional journey as well as the journeys of the others in his life. Prom Queen is inspired by the queer people in my life who go through so many struggles behind closed doors, and who feel like no one understands them or accepts them, when in reality there are so many people willing to support them. This play is for people who may be trying to find themselves, who may need to learn about the community more as an outsider, or for anyone who enjoys theater with deep, complex characters and plot! What has the process been for New Voices? What has been the biggest challenge? What is most exciting? The process has been quite the experience! I know some of the rehearsal and choreography process from my early theater days, so I was able to keep up with the rest of the team. The biggest challenge was making sure each character had their voice heard and was represented in a fitting way for both the story and the character themselves. I didn’t go against this challenge alone, though. I had my dramaturg Carlos by my side as well the director of my play Bi who both gave such great insight and questions for the story to help me make this story as complex and as amazing as it is now. Honestly, everything about the process was exciting! The struggles and the triumphs have all made such a roller coaster of an experience, and I have enjoyed every second of it. From meeting the actors to designing stage behavior and movement. What is one thing you are learning through this process? What stands out? Something I learned throughout this process was the importance of collaboration between a team when creating a work on stage. Everyone involved can have a different viewpoint and amazing ideas to collaborate on and develop together as a team to make the whole production better than it could have been if one person had been calling the shots. This interview is PART ONE in a series looking at
one play from three perspectives. Prom Queen by Lily Rivera is included on Bill One of the 2018 New Voices Workshop Productions beginning October 25th. All performances, running through November 5th, are Pay What You Decide. Reservations are required.
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What play are you directing? What it is about? I'm directing a play called Prom Queen which is a story about a teenager named Jax who experiences rejection and homophobia from his best friend. Despite this, Jax realizes his strength, confidence, and empowerment and celebrates his sexual identity and his ideal of beauty. What does a typical rehearsal look like? At the top of every rehearsal, everyone in the room gathers for a moment of centering and focus. We check in with a statement about the day, and we engage in a 10 minute physical and vocal warm-up. So, if the young playwright and dramaturg are in the room, they participate, as well as our amazing stage manager. This way, we're all truly seeing each other as we begin the work each day. All of us are equal collaborators in this space. After our warm-up, we run through the different parts of the play that require our attention that day. As of right now, we are fine tuning each section to make sure that the story is clear...and beautiful! What it is like to direct a brand new, still-in-progress play? How is it different that working on a more established play? New play development is one of my favorite processes. It's a chance for actors and the director to converse with and really collaborate with a living, breathing playwright. The work is evolving as we rehearse, so it's a really exciting time for every artist involved, because you're part of a new creation. What are you learning about directing (or otherwise) in this process? I'm learning that if we lead with love, we will create beautiful, meaningful theatre. There's a lot of love for each other and for the work in our rehearsal room, but also from PYP and Temple University. When there's that much love, joy, and commitment dedicated to the voices of our young playwrights, we explode the possibilities! This interview is PART TWO in a series looking at
one play from three perspectives. Prom Queen by Lily Rivera is included on Bill One of the 2018 New Voices Workshop Productions beginning October 25th. All performances, running through November 5th, are Pay What You Decide. Reservations are required.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up in Haddon Township, New Jersey, where a childhood of forcing guests at family parties to watch me sing and dance eventually led to the pursuit of a career as an actor. I ended up enrolling at Temple, excited by the prospect of studying musical theatre in a city rich with exciting theatre, art, and culture… and great food. Now I’m in my senior year as a musical theatre student at Temple. I’m graduating in May 2019! Is this your first time working on New Voices? What got you involved? New Voices was actually the very first project I worked on in the fall of my freshman year at Temple. The play was Curtains by Harrison Freed, directed by Shavon Norris. I remember feeling so empowered by Shavon’s creative energy, and inspired by the care and enthusiasm with which everyone on the Philadelphia Young Playwrights staff treated the entire process. I’m thrilled to be back, three years later. The energy in the room is just as exciting as I remembered, thanks to a gorgeous script by playwright Lily Rivera and the leadership of our fabulous director Bi Jean Ngo. What character are you playing? Tell us about them. Lily’s play is called Prom Queen, and I play a boy named Jax who orders a dress to wear to his senior prom. Jax wants others to see his true self, but he’s not quite sure exactly what that is. Jax is funny and fierce and has a lot of love to give. And he’s handling the awkwardness of adolescence a hell of a lot better than I did. What it is like to work on a brand new, still-in-progress play? What is the biggest challenge? What is most exciting? With no roadmap or precedent from a previous production, it’s easy to start to worry, “Am I doing this right?” That fear can be a hindrance, but I actually find it thrilling, especially since Bi takes such care to create a space where actors can be vulnerable, and Lily has written such a compelling script. Our play uses a lot of direct address to the audience. It will be challenging to honestly connect with audience members – to look them in the eyes, ask them questions, and be vulnerable in front of them – but this challenge is the thing I’m most excited about. What are you learning as an actor (or otherwise) through this process? I’m learning to demand nothing less than a 100% honest performance from myself. I’m learning how important it is to breathe. Oh, and I’m learning how to gracefully slip into a floor-length prom dress in one fluid motion. I mean, that’s a skill you can take to the bank, don’t you think? This interview is PART THREE in a series looking at
one play from three perspectives. Catch Matthew in Lily Rivera's Prom Queen (Bill One) beginning October 25th. New Voices Workshop Productions runs through November 3rd. All performances are Pay What You Decide. Reservations are required.
Student Writers + Undergraduate Actors + Professional Directors Get to know the directors behind the six new student-written plays premiering at Temple University as part of the 2018 New Voices Workshop Productions.
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