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Interview with Four Quarters playwright Christopher Heath by Mark Glassman, 8/8/02 Christopher Heath is still figuring out exactly who he is. But he knows a few things. He knows that he has a job in Jersey City that supports him until his writing will. And he knows that might take some time. He knows Tennessee Williams. And David Mamet. And Harold Pinter. And he knows how and when to use each of their signature techniques. He knows that he's 28. He knows that his weekends are for his boyfriend. And that his play, Four Quarters, will debut this week in the New York International Fringe Festival. He knows he's a little nervous. On his way home to Brooklyn from work, as he crossed the second of two rivers over the Brooklyn Bridge, Chris took a few minutes to chat with Agony about his upcoming production. A: How would you summarize Four Quarters? C: Four Quarters is about two adults who are searching for their other halves. In their search, they discover their inner halves. A: That sounds painful. C: It's not painful. It's fun. Each adult in the relationship is played by two actors, so you see two sides of them. A: How did you come up with that idea? C: Actually, it was a friend of mine's idea. He wanted to see a play where two people were in a scene and one of them left and someone else came in playing the same person. It took me about a year and half to figure out how that was going to happen and how it was all going to make sense. A: And the characters? A boy and a girl? C: Actually, each character is played by both a guy and a girl.. It's constantly changing. It's more about the essence of the whole, of the being. A: So, they each have masculine and feminine sides? Or is it a gay couple? C: Gender is not an issue at all.. Hmmm.. At least, I don't see it as an issue. But I think other people will. A: Does that upset you? C: No, I think it's great. I think anything that makes them talk about it, or to relate to it, is great. The people that do that will be surprised with what they see. A: Who were the playwrights that you drew on the most in writing Four Quarters? C: Harold Pinter is a big influence.. Terrance McNally is a big influence. Tennessee Williams… There are a lot of--dare I compare?--Mamet-esque scenes… and I follow it up with Pinter pauses. It's fast and then it stops.. and then, Williams--just his brutal realities were a huge influence on me. A: How so? C: In challenging what's expected, the norm. A: How does this work fit into your career as a playwright in a larger context? C: I feel like it's the start of something big, if I can be so bold as to say that. I've written just a few. Mostly, they're short, but I did a write a monologue show. It was about finding yourself, and a lot the same themes that Four Quarters works. A: What was that show called? C: Digressions is the name of the monologue show. It's about a young man's journey of self-discovery, and along the way he's forced to look at himself through different sets of eyes. A: Where are you from? C: I grew up in Tulsa, and I've lived all over the Midwest. A: And when did you come to New York? C: I moved here about a year after I graduated from college, and I moved to Astoria when I first got here and on to Brooklyn the next year. A: Why stay in Brooklyn? Is there a growing and supportive performing arts community? C: It's just cheap. A: Gotcha. Are you nervous about the festivals? C: It's totally up and down. I didn't really start getting nervous until I saw that the tickets were going on sale. Then it started to hit. With the rehearsal process, some nights I'll come home and I'll be really nervous about it, and some nights, I'll come home and think that we've got the best show in the world. I'm trying to soak it all in as best as I know how. A: Any good luck rituals before or after the show? C: No, I'm probably gonna be a real dick to everyone that I know though. And I do know that I'm going to make Christin Nacke [an actress in Four Quarters] do the troll dance for everyone. A: We can't wait to see that. C: No, no. Only for the cast. A: That's a shame. For information about Chritopher Heath or Four Quarters, email Christopher Heath. *Written by Mark Glassman. For inquirys about Agony Productions, email articles@agonyproductions.com. |
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