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The Playwright’s Process
A chat with Sheila Callaghan
Rob Campbell & Dana Eskelson in Lascivious Something.
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Encore had an exclusive chat with Sheila Callaghan, the writer of Lascivious Something.
You have said that you want audiences to “feel like they’ve seen something old and new at the same time.” Can you expand on this, particularly in the light of the literary tradition of Greek Tragedy that informs your work?
At the heart of the play is a love triangle that we’ve all seen before, played out by extreme characters acting in extreme ways. This is pretty familiar territory to theatregoers, but not at all to me as a writer. My plays tend to be sprawling, highly theatrical and not terribly concerned with narrative, but my goal here was to employ a small cast on a single set and slowly raise the stakes in a traditional dramatic way. It was a challenge for me, and continues to be, to tell a story in this very classical way without being predictable. But this particular structure has worked for as long as the dramatic form has existed, and when it’s executed well it is hugely satisfying.
Can you say a little about the choice of a vineyard as a setting for the story?
I just thought it was a great sensual setting for a story about love and loss. The fecundity, promise and disappointment built into a growing cycle parallels the ideas at play in the lives of these characters. Plus, there’s a certain exoticism to the setting, which I found quite appropriate.
Are there any moments in Daneilla Topol’s conceptualization of your text that surprised you? For example, did she direct scenes in ways that you hadn’t imagined them?
Daniella and I have been working on the play together for several years, and we have an extremely close relationship in regards to this material, so not too many decisions have been made without me being part of the conversation. However, I suppose the biggest surprise for me has been watching Marsha Ginsberg’s set come alive in the theatre. It is conceptual and grounded at the same time. In our early conversations I admit I didn’t completely understand how it would work, but the idea thrilled and terrified me. In practice, however, it is a gorgeous, poignant and deeply effective.
What was it like returning to your literary training ground for this production?
My roots are not necessary in literary theatre; I was an English major and a student of modern and post-modern novels and poetry. My education in the history of drama has been very limited, so it all seemed very fresh to me. In a way I think this was more helpful than if I had a mopey immersion in the miasma of the masters. I came out of those texts going, “Dang, those old Greek dudes sure knew what they were doing!” rather than being intimidated/oppressed/bored by the form.
Lascivious Something will be playing at The Women’s Project Theatre through June 6. For more information, please visit www.womensproject.org/lasvicioussomething.