Author of Perfect [Quickies 12, June 2011]
CRYSTAL SKILLMAN is the author of Cut (being produced May 19th-June 4th by The Management and Horse Trade Theater Group at UNDER St. Marks), The Vigil or The Guided Cradle, directed by John Hurley, which won the 2010 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Full-Length Script and was hailed as “timely and incisive” by Martin Denton of nytheatre.com. Action Philosophers! is one of her two productions in the Comic Book Theater Festival at The Brick in NYC this summer. The other, Mrs. Perfect! is a short rock musical commission for Theater in a Van. Other productions include: Birthday (directed by Daniel Talbott for Rising Phoenix Rep, Waterloo East in London); Nobody & Telling Trilogy, (RPR). Hack! an I.T. Spaghetti Western (Impetuous/Brick, w/director John Hurley); Killer High w/director Hope Cartelli (Piper McKenzie/Vampire Cowboys Saloon); Geek (new play commission, Obie-Award winning company Vampire Cowboys); Sex & Death in London (Rising Phoenix Rep’s Cino Nights this fall). She is happy to announce that Samuel French will be publishing her plays Birthday and Nobody this summer. In Spring 2012 she will be the resident playwright at Overturn Theater Ensemble. Perfect, which Crystal is thrilled is making it’s debut with Live Girls!, is a play that was developed in the Women’s Project Lab. Crystal would like to thank the Lab, especially Alice Reagan, Julie Crosby and Megan Carter there for their support and of course to Live Girls! for bringing the play to life.
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My grandfather passed away last spring at age 94. When I went down to Florida for the funeral I realized that my mom, who has always been a big, babbling story-telling who exaggerates everything and is pretty emotional, was full of contradictions about who her father was and how she felt about him, which came out in all sorts of ways. Now that Grandpa was gone, and feeling my own sense of loss with that, (and guilt – I wanted to visit so bad over the past few years but didn’t and just have to deal with that choice) I realized from talking with her I had no idea of who he really was. But I also suddenly realized this was what growing up with her was like. I really never knew what was true in our crazy, (full of love but crazy), house. I think that’s why I relate so well to fictional ideas, as opposed to how the world works. My mom’s personality and ideas of her have crept into my plays before but it was on the car ride back from the funeral where my mom let it go about what family means to her, which was in total contradiction to what she said at the funeral, that I realized I wanted to write a play capturing our relationship, under the microscope of the sense of loss. In the play the mother and daughter are locked out by accident of the daughter’s apartment which I love as it gives the sense of both of them needing to find some kind of “key” in each other to move on. As I grow older I think that’s true – at least in our case – we’ve always been close but might we now be actually listening to each other more? Though we do still talk over each other at the same time …:)
What is your favorite moment in the play?
I love when the mother takes junk food right out of her purse and starts eating while telling her daughter that she’s healthy. I still call home and they swear they’re “eating so good now” and then they’re like , “oh gotta go the microwave just dinged with the hot dogs we’re warming up”.
Who is your current playwright talent crush?
I think Joshua Conkel is amazing, and we’re becoming good friends now which is a joy, but heck there are so many amazing writers out there right now it’s exciting. I will list a few that maybe need to be on folks radar even more and I’m lucky to call them good friends: Carla Ching, Daniel Talbott, Mark Shultz, Qui Nguyen, Janine Nabers, Dominique Morisseau, Mando Alvarado, Melissa Ross, Alexis Clements, Christine Evans, Larry Kunofsky, Mariah MacCarthy, Kristen Palmer, Adam Szymkowicz, Emily Devoti, Jessica Dickey, Stephanie Janssen, Jonny Blitstein, and J. Holtham. But there are so many folks, I know I’m missing peeps! Please check out these writers or their shows if you haven’t already.
What advice would you give to aspiring playwrights?
As much as it can feel overwhelming at times — from deadlines to sharing new work looking for the right home — remember that you have a lot of power. Keep writing and learning from what you’re writing that is working, and, most importantly, what isn’t and putting that into the next play and great things will happen.
What kind of theater do you love?
Theatre for good prices ($20 or less). Where you can drink beer or wine during the show and that is all about RISKS.
What are you currently working on?
My play Cut, written for the amazing Management Company (Josh Conkel runs it and they did his play MilkMilkLemonade there) debuts May 19th at Theater UNDER St. Marks. It features a bunch of awesome folks that met in Seattle actually. Meg Sturiano is directing and the actors rocking the play are: Nicole Beerman, Megan Hill, and Joseph Varca. I’m really proud of this play – can’t wait to share. Josh just did a great interview/article on the play/me in the BK Rail: http://www.brooklynrail.org/2011/05/theater/cut-unscripting-reality-with-crystal-skillman
After that, my play adaptation of Action Philosophers! (a comic by my hubby Fred Van Lente, created with artist Ryan Dunlavey) will rock the Brick in their awesome Comic Book Theater festival this June. John Hurley (who directed my play Hack! as well as Vigil will be directing that) Also in the fest the wonderful indie theater company Theatre in a Van will be running a short rock musical called Mrs. Perfect! that I wrote about indie female superheros and their struggles to make it to the top. Both have amazing creative teams and will be a hoot. More info on that here: http://www.bricktheater.com/
Development wise I’m working on my new full length play Geek which I’m writing for the wonderful Obie-Award winning theater company Vampire Cowboys. Really excited about it. We’re developing it this year with an eye on production in their upcoming season 2012-2013.
Outside of theater, what are you really into right now?
It’s spring so it’s all about gardening as I have a little front yard garden. I freakin’ love herbs.
Do you have a favorite and least favorite word?
Awesome is my fav word! Hobby is my least fav! I think that’s why I have trouble watching folks do “arts and crafts”. Even gardening I consider a great use of my time – the plants need to be planted to live after all! The word hobby makes me feel like what I’m doing is wasteful when all we create should be considered important – at least for that moment! But I do love a sense of urgency to things …
Is there a question you would like to see posed to playwrights featured in future spotlights?
Best theater surreal dream/nightmare ever? Mine still might be where I ran into Mac Wellman directing a production of Annie, with a megaphone, on a beach. Still haunts me - seemed pretty brilliant – I wish it was real and I could have actually seen it! Would have paid $20 and sat down with my glass of wine and loved it I’m sure. 
Live Girls! is a theater company dedicated to producing and developing new plays by women.
