Hello Friends,
We’re pleased to introduce you to one of the producers of the Barrow Street Theatre, Scott Morfee. The Barrow Street Theatre is is a 199 seat Off-Broadway theatre, located in the West Village of New York City. Currently playing is a new play by Nina Raine, entitled Tribes. Tribes is the 2012 recpieent of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. We’re absolutely thrilled that Scott took the time to talk with us here at The Write Teacher(s). Happy Reading, friends!
TWT: First things first, did you always want to be a theatre producer?
SM: No. I saw 2-3 plays as a kid and none in college. I became interested in theatre after moving to New York, and after years in marketing, I decided to merge my marketing skills and my love of theatre.
TWT: Can you explain to our readers what goes into selecting the shows that are done at the Barrow Street Theatre?
SM: I seek eclectic, diverse work. I like to surprise our audiences. In last few years we have done Shakespeare’s Cymbeline; Tribes, a new play; Our Town, a revival of an American classic. The next play is new. Everything we do needs to be original and not adhere to approved repertory, with very few exceptions. In other words, our productions are not likely to mimic others. We are also commercial, so we do not have seasons. Our plays are staged to run…to find and develop an audience over a long-term.
TWT: Off all the shows you have produced, is there one (or two) in particular that are closest to your heart?
SM: BUG by Tracy Letts, because it shook-up the theatre scene that year (2004), and people still mention it all the time for its originality on all levels. I suppose Our Town, because we changed people’s view of the play, and also enjoyed a long run. It could still be running, but we also need to keep moving on.
TWT: We believe that the pulse of the Off-Broadway scene is palpable, and that the shows will resonate with the audience goers on a deep level, staying with them long after they leave the theatre. Would you agree or disagree with this statement and why?
SM: I think really good theatre and really bad theatre have the same potential to stay with people.
TWT: Here at The Write Teacher(s), many of us work with “at-risk” youth. These students are recovering drug addicts, struggling drug addicts, teenage parents, and almost all of them come from broken homes. The struggles, demons, and anger that our students face is often a hindrance to their progress in school and life in general. Do you have any words of wisdom to offer these students?
SM: First of all, good playwrights are in demand, and they make a lot of money when they break through. It is a viable business and life pursuit, if even whilst holding another job. And people can try it at any age. More important: plays are not limiting in any way – writers can fully explore their imaginations and emotions, and write with total freedom. Some get inhibited thinking that only small casts will work or get produced, and this is totally wrong. If a writer wants 100 warriors on stage, simply write, “Hundreds of warriors fill the stage.” Directors and designers can make anything happen thru projections, lights, sounds, magic. If a writer says “a snowstorm rages,” then so be it. It will happen, somehow. Writer wants to portray heaven? It will happen. This is the collaboration that moves something from page to stage. Everything is equally possible — love/hate, anger/whimsy, words/music, funny/sad, joy/fear, prose/poetry…it matters not. EVERYTHING is possible. And the other great thing is that you do not need a theatre to stage a play. Or people can simply read a play, virtually anywhere, any time.
TWT: In today’s economy, arts programs in schools are being cut. What reasons would you give a politician for preserving the arts?
SM: Theatre is one of the most cost-effective disciplines, as students now have access to computers; so the result of the work moves from brain to type pad, to a screen or to page. And a stage is anything from a gym, to a classroom, to a hallway. Infrastructure is NOT required. Dissecting a frog costs a lot more. I am not saying which is more important, I am simply saying that theatre is cost-effective, and it is the only “art” I am addressing here.
TWT: Here at The Write Teacher(s), we believe that art drives life, and theatre transforms lives. Would you agree or disagree with those statements? Why?
SM: I agree. Because it is true.
TWT: Just for fun, what’s your favorite movie and play?
SM: Impossible question. A newer movie that really touched me: BUCK, a documentary about the horse whisperer, a term he would not embrace, but that is shorthand. Local Hero is a little-known movie that I think is special. ‘Round Midnight is must-see, exquisite. Stage: I am a fan of Beckett’s work, and McDonagh’s Pillow Man, and Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story. These lists could go on for pages.
TWT: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
SM: An English teacher in college who made us write as we read history, so we really did get two things done at once. We would read the history of an era, and the literature of the same era. We then had to write based on the combined intelligence we had gathered. Really smart approach.
Thank you, Scott!
And to all of our Write Teacher(s) Readers, be sure to check out the shows at the Barrow Street Theatre, should you be in the NYC area!
Live, Love, Learn,
The Write Teacher(s)