Interview by: Emily Townley, Staff Writer
Transcript
Leah Geisler [LG]: Welcome to The Grappler Wrights of Spring Series for 2022. This week we will be sharing four interviews with you from the third-year playwrights. These interviews are like telescopes into the world these playwrights are in and how they went about creating their work. Stay tuned this week to listen to the rest of the series.
Today we have an interview for you from the playwright Lila Engelhardt, who wrote Work in Progress. Lila is a third-year playwright, minoring in animation. Her past work was showcased in Wrights of Spring during the pandemic. This will be the first time her work will be put on in person. At The Theatre School, she has worked as a dramaturg on Detroit '67 this year, as well as Miss Fest, where she was a part of BUMF, reciting a comedic personal essay. She's excited to be a part of Wrights of Spring again and hopes it's a hit.
Emily Townley [ET]: Today I am interviewing third-year playwright Lila Engelhardt about her entry into this year's Wrights of Spring. Thank you so much for joining Lila.
Lila Engelhardt [LE]: Thank you for having me.
ET: Of course. Alright. So why don't you start by telling the audience a bit about yourself, how you got into theatre and most importantly, why don't you tell us a bit about your play?
LE: I went to a performing arts high school, and I was really lucky to be able to do that because I studied theatre and it got me really obsessed with everything. Like when I found out that I could do theatre as a profession, I was like, "Oh, my God, this is amazing." I also really like to think about this quote, I don't know where it's from. But my dads told me that being an expert in something involves having 1000 hours of practice and everything else that I have had an interest in, I couldn't see myself working for 1000 hours in it. And with theatre, I was like, "Oh, I could do like 2000 kajillion hours of this."
ET: And what is it about playwriting specifically?
LE: That was another thing of, wow, I didn't realize that I could have this be something that I could pursue. I didn't love acting, right? And like, being on stage because I would have a lot of anxiety, but I loved the idea of creating good theatre. Yeah, I just always was like, well, I always loved writing and I always loved theatre. So I was like, "Wow, I can do stuff. And it can also be about me."
ET: Yeah, talking about more about yourself. What is your play about?
LE: My play is about this girl. It's a coming of age story, and she is living with one of her friends in New York, and she has realized that she is not as excited about relationships with anyone. And then her roommate is very interested in having a lot of sex. So there's this clash and but she's also realizing that she likes a girl and it's about this relationship that's budding, but also her own inner trauma and bullshit that's like holding her back. It's just like this connection she has with her identity and her trying to figure it out.
ET: So I guess we could go into identity.
LE: I do talk a lot about identity in my plays. The one that like, I was really... I feel like I would also be proud of is this one about the 14-year-old girl and her great aunt. They get stuck in a bathroom at a bar mitzvah. And then they talk about identity and body image and that is a very touchy subject, very emotional for me to like talk about. And I think that's what, what I really like about writing and what I like about exploring my own identity. Yeah. It's a part of my process to write a play because... I want to be, I want people to watch my stuff and understand, understand the predicament that they're in. Either feel like it's relatable or yeah, it's like I'm trying to touch on subjects that people feel but don't always like to talk about.
ET: So in essence it's sort of, I don't know cathartic or therapy for yourself as well as therapy for the audience.
LE: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would say that and it's like, it's definitely having people who know me see my stuff makes me very, very anxious. Because it's so vulnerable. Yeah. But it's also funny. Yeah. It's also funny to, like, identify things about yourself and be like, well, that is crazy.
ET: So in your process, do you often have these moments of realization, like, "Oh, I do that. Oh, I do that." And how often does that come up in your process?
LE: I definitely have moments where I'm reflecting on a scene that I've been working on, and I hope that what I feel, what I'm trying to evoke comes out in the scene and I think back and be like, "Oh, that's really smart of you, Lila. That was really smart that you connected those two things in your play and maybe you could connect those in your life," or something like that. Like, it takes a lot out of me to write about it, but then I get really excited that I'm like, I'm glad I was able to point that point that out. Does that make sense?
ET: Yeah, I know that makes perfect sense. So I guess going on to my next question, is there any specific reason why you how... is there any specific reason that you were inspired to write this play? Or I guess an alternative question would be why did you focus specifically on this play for Wrights of Spring?
LE: Well, I've been working on this play all year, right? So it's the first thing that we worked on in class that I was like, "Oh, I, I see something in here." Like, yeah, I don't know. I think it was just,I know I once I start to, like, feel these characters.... this is gonna sound crazy, but when I'm writing a play, the characters have to be in my head, they have to... like I can, I can see them, like, I can hear them. Like I understand them not in a crazy way, but they are separate from me. Yeah. They become themselves. And I can understand just... I don't know what I'm saying.
ET: Oh, I get you. Yeah. You have to, like, separate yourself from the people you create.
LE: Yes. Yeah. And it's a part of Lila's brain. Like, yes, it is me but it's also... well I want them to be in my head. They're well-grounded, and I'm just trying to tell their story.
ET: So I guess that sort of connection, that's part of the... going back to process, that's part of something you have to do in order to take a project and go further with it. Like connecting, I guess. I guess going on from that is, what were other parts of the process like for you? Or like, did you find most difficult, most easy, most fun?
LE: Right now I feel like I'm in the thick of it. Like, I feel like this is the hardest time because I have my cast. I'm planning rehearsal. My play is in a week. Or it's it's well, it's next Friday. That's the first day. And, and I'm not done. I'm not done and I'm not going to be done. And that's what's terrifying, right? Because all my teachers have always told me regarding playwriting, they're like, "Your play is never going to be done." And I'm like, "That's infuriating to me," because why? Like, why can't I just... it's like and I can be over it, like, I can be sick of it. But that doesn't mean I'm done. And so it's really hard, but really exciting.
ET: I guess we can speak into collaboration, like you mentioned, how feedback has helped you. Have you had help from any other people, whether it's your cohort, your professors? How else has their feedback impacted your work?
LE: I am really anxious about sharing my work to people I don't have to. Yeah, and there's a couple people that I would send it to like, I have never sent this play to anyone outside of the class, except for people who have done a reading for me. I've been super grateful for the people who have been willing to be a part of my cast. That's really, really exciting to me. And also nervewracking because it's just hard for me to share my work. Yeah, so it's it just depends. And I like to have people see my play at the end, right? And not like jimble-jamble.
ET: Has Wrights of Spring/NPS process helped you sort of get over this fear of sharing your work before it's finished?
LE: No, no, no. No, it's even more scary and intimidating now because there's only four, including me playwrights. Yeah. So it's like there's that four. And then a handful of people who heard it last quarter and our final readings and it's not even close to that what that was now, so it's like, nobody has seen it, and that's freaking me out, but it's okay.
ET: I guess, sort of going off of this sort of whole new thing. How is this year's Wrights of Spring different compared to, for example, your sophomore year or even your freshman year?
LE: Well, sophomore and freshman year, we're online. And that was really kind of frustrating. I still was proud of what I put out, but this one feels more like this is a play. This is literally... this is going to be tough subjects. My last two plays were kind of took place in like a fictional world and were more metaphorical than this one. And so that's different. Like, if we're talking about the play context. But yeah, this will be in person, which is the first, first time I'll have my work read in person since senior year of high school.
ET: Alright. So wrapping up, our last question. I'm a dramaturg, so I like to ask dramaturgical questions. Why this play now?
LE: I think that a lot of people in media and in any kind of entertainment sort of romanticize sex. It's just trying to represent someone who has had some issues.
ET: With intimacy?
LE: With intimacy. How they interact with people who are better experienced. But it's also about her and coming into herself and, and understanding that having past issues doesn't need to define who you are in a new relationship.
ET: Or like, how you interact with other people.
LE: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And your problems don't need to just be your problems, like bobbling it off is harmful. Um, but you can also... because you, you need to feel them, you need to understand what your, what you're looking for in a relationship.
ET: And you think your play kind of shows that?
LE: Mhm. It's a tough subject, but that's what good theatre is: Tough subjects.
ET: That's all really I had planned for today.
LE: Come see Work in Progress.
ET: Come see Work in Progress. Alright. Thank you so much. This is super insightful.
LG: Thanks for listening to The Grappler's 2022 Wrights of Spring Series. This interview was conducted by Emily Townley, audio engineering by Ember Sappington.
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