Martín Zimmerman graduated from The University of Texas with an MFA in Playwriting in 2010. Since then, he's been a Carl Djerassi Playwriting Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, both a Jerome and McKnight Fellow at the Playwrights' Center, a member of the Playwrights' Unit at Goodman Theatre, and he wrote a couple of TV shows, including Netflix's Narcos. He returns to Austin to work on his new play, Slake, with groundswell. Here's the inside scoop.
Q: When did you start writing Slake? What led you to the play?
MZ: I got the idea for the play (or rather the major story art and characters crystallized in my mind) a little over two years ago. I began writing the first act in January 2014, but I hemmed and hawed about whether I should actually go through with writing the full play for quite awhile, so I didn't begin writing it in earnest until October of 2014. I stepped away from the play for a bit of time between each act (both because I wanted to gain some distance from the writing and because I was on a stint writing for a TV show) so I didn't finish the first draft until February of 2015.
In terms of what led me to the play, Slake is about subject matter that I've been fascinated with for a long time (for a decade, at least, since I saw a phenomenal production of Schiller's Mary Stuart in London)--how absolute power can be a debilitating prison, how power can corrupt even the most seemingly incorruptible person, how political decisions and interpersonal dynamics are inseparable, etc. But two things led me back to this subject matter most recently: reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman and reading about Bashar al-Assad's transformation from a benevolent, liberalizing leader to a brutal despot. Both gave me greater insight into subject matter and dynamics that have long fascinated me.
Also, I'd just finished writing a one-woman play, and I wanted to write something massive and sprawling in contrast to the intimacy of the one-woman play.
Q: Why did you choose Slake as your groundswell project?
MZ: Because Jess Hutchinson said to choose the passion project with which I'd most like to "cheat on" my other projects. And, though the people who've read Slake have responded to it very positively, I'd never even heard it aloud until recently. I thought groundswell (and the larger Austin theater community) would be the perfect safe space to begin shaping such a massive, boldly theatrical play.
Q: What's exciting/scary to you about this play?
MZ: I would say the same thing most excites and scares me about it--just how massive and theatrical it is.
Q: What are you looking forward to about the groundswell conference?
MZ: Both taking this play to the next level in its development and reconnecting with old friends/colleagues.
Q: Finish this sentence. "I want to see plays that..."
MZ: ...are made specifically for the theatre. There are more barriers than ever to getting people to the theatre. And if theatre merely tries to emulate what other forms of storytelling can do much better, we're causing our own demise as an art form. We need plays that exploit what makes theatre unlike any other form of storytelling--liveness, theatricality, intimacy.
Q: If you could give a piece of advice to someone currently in school for theater, what would it be?
MZ: I would give two pieces of advice. First, use your time in school to create as much (risky) work as possible. Second, use your time in school to figure out what kind of art you specifically want to be making, what kind of art you cherish the most. You might not spend all of you time making this kind of art when you're out of school, and it may be a while before you're actually capable of executing the kind of art you aspire to make, but because school is a great place to encounter many different philosophies and aesthetic preferences, it's a great place (perhaps the best space because it frees you somewhat from the pressures of the marketplace) to articulate what it is you value most as an artist. Being able to articulate that vision will be very valuable as you begin seeking new collaborators and artistic homes after you graduate.
More info on Martin's work here.
Q: When did you start writing Slake? What led you to the play?
MZ: I got the idea for the play (or rather the major story art and characters crystallized in my mind) a little over two years ago. I began writing the first act in January 2014, but I hemmed and hawed about whether I should actually go through with writing the full play for quite awhile, so I didn't begin writing it in earnest until October of 2014. I stepped away from the play for a bit of time between each act (both because I wanted to gain some distance from the writing and because I was on a stint writing for a TV show) so I didn't finish the first draft until February of 2015.
In terms of what led me to the play, Slake is about subject matter that I've been fascinated with for a long time (for a decade, at least, since I saw a phenomenal production of Schiller's Mary Stuart in London)--how absolute power can be a debilitating prison, how power can corrupt even the most seemingly incorruptible person, how political decisions and interpersonal dynamics are inseparable, etc. But two things led me back to this subject matter most recently: reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman and reading about Bashar al-Assad's transformation from a benevolent, liberalizing leader to a brutal despot. Both gave me greater insight into subject matter and dynamics that have long fascinated me.
Also, I'd just finished writing a one-woman play, and I wanted to write something massive and sprawling in contrast to the intimacy of the one-woman play.
Q: Why did you choose Slake as your groundswell project?
MZ: Because Jess Hutchinson said to choose the passion project with which I'd most like to "cheat on" my other projects. And, though the people who've read Slake have responded to it very positively, I'd never even heard it aloud until recently. I thought groundswell (and the larger Austin theater community) would be the perfect safe space to begin shaping such a massive, boldly theatrical play.
Q: What's exciting/scary to you about this play?
MZ: I would say the same thing most excites and scares me about it--just how massive and theatrical it is.
Q: What are you looking forward to about the groundswell conference?
MZ: Both taking this play to the next level in its development and reconnecting with old friends/colleagues.
Q: Finish this sentence. "I want to see plays that..."
MZ: ...are made specifically for the theatre. There are more barriers than ever to getting people to the theatre. And if theatre merely tries to emulate what other forms of storytelling can do much better, we're causing our own demise as an art form. We need plays that exploit what makes theatre unlike any other form of storytelling--liveness, theatricality, intimacy.
Q: If you could give a piece of advice to someone currently in school for theater, what would it be?
MZ: I would give two pieces of advice. First, use your time in school to create as much (risky) work as possible. Second, use your time in school to figure out what kind of art you specifically want to be making, what kind of art you cherish the most. You might not spend all of you time making this kind of art when you're out of school, and it may be a while before you're actually capable of executing the kind of art you aspire to make, but because school is a great place to encounter many different philosophies and aesthetic preferences, it's a great place (perhaps the best space because it frees you somewhat from the pressures of the marketplace) to articulate what it is you value most as an artist. Being able to articulate that vision will be very valuable as you begin seeking new collaborators and artistic homes after you graduate.
More info on Martin's work here.
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