As noted in an earlier post, Magic Theatre recently announced the cast and creative team for the World Premiere of Miranda Rose Hall’s THE KIND ONES.
In an exclusive interview with Cultural Currents, this gifted writer shared her unique perspective on a wide range of topical issues.
Cultural Currents: What lessons have been learned about theatre during the pandemic?
Miranda Rose Hall: Certainly that the theater is more vulnerable than I had imagined. It never occurred to me that the show might not go on. That has been a humbling realization, and it’s powerful to recognize that health, safety, and wellbeing are undeniably the bedrock of artistry. In the meantime, we’ve spent two years watching really good television! Which has been wonderful. And it has helped me clarify what the theater can offer that TV cannot. At its best the theater can give a live, vulnerable, electric, rawness that television can’t touch. You’re able to make space for sustained attention, you’re maybe even able to synch the heartbeats of a room full of people. You can tell a story that has more metaphor (visual, emotional, intellectual) and more spaciousness. I find that spaciousness very rejuvenating.
CC: Will this ongoing health crisis have a lasting impact on your writing?
Rose Hall: This pandemic has changed the way we live, think and breathe — how could that not change everything! I think that I don’t have enough distance from it to have perspective on just how much has changed for my writing; in many ways we’re still trying to learn what to do, especially with the return to live performance. But I certainly think that the questions that keep me up at night these days — how do we live, how do we connect, how do we respond to suffering, how do we find pleasure and joy — are the timeless questions of drama.
CC: Our readers ride the ferry. It’s an intimate experience like the theatre. What are your thoughts about this kind of community and shared experience?
Rose Hall: I love to commute! I love the ferry. Taking time to travel between things is an important part of my creative process. I think perhaps both the ferry and the theater offer people the chance to let their minds wander in the company of strangers. That’s something I’ve missed very much these past few years.