Native Voices: How would you describe the field and/or profession of dramaturgy?
Rob Caisley: We help playwrights remember the play they dreamed about last night but maybe forgot to write down in their first draft.
NV: What have been some of your favorite projects you've worked on as a dramaturg?
RC: It’s always going to be my students’ plays. They’re at that really exciting time in their writing careers, when the limitations of their experience are truly a blessing. They haven’t developed the critic’s voice in their heads yet – as a result, they don’t talk themselves out of a risky choice in style or subject or construction.
NV: What drew you to the profession of theatre?
RC: My father has been an actor his whole life. I attended a rehearsal of a production he was in when I was very young: Lillian Hellman’s Little Foxes. He was the guy with the heart condition. He’s having an attack and he tries to stagger up the staircase to the medicine cabinet to get his pills … but his cruel and vindictive sister is keeping them from him, actually rattling the bottle as he tries in vain to reach her. My dad (a far more vivacious man at the time) did a spectacular fall backwards down the staircase. I stood up in the back of the theatre and screamed, “She killed my dad!” The magic of the theatre had completely hypnotized me!
NV: Which plays or playwrights have you been influenced by?
RC: I’m partial to the Royal Court Joint Stock Group of writers: Caryl Churchill, David Hare, Howard Brenton, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Jim Cartwright, etc.
NV: If you could sit down and interview anyone from the past, who would that be?
RC: Anton Chekhov.
NV: What's the longest standing item on your "To Do" list?
RC: Item #1 – Start this damned To Do list!!!
NV: What is your greatest indulgence?
RC: Wine.
NV: As you may know, our 2009-2010 Season marks Native Voices' Tenth Anniversary at the Autry. Where do you think theatre will be in the next ten years?
RC: Hmm. Don’t know. I’d like to see more epic, sprawling plays being written and produced like August: Osage County. We need some gutsy producers to allow playwrights to really expand their creative horizons. Things will move toward liquid scenery and digital tech to offset the staggering cost of production.
Rob has been a friend of Native Voices since its inception. In addition to serving as the dramaturg on Carolyn Dunn's Frybread Queen, Rob will also lead a Writing Workshop entitled "First Aid for Playwrights." This workshop is only open to retreat participants.
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