INTERVIEW: In ‘Wounded,’ Jiggs Burgess welcomes you to his neighborhood
Photo: Jiggs Burgess’ new play is called Wounded and plays through Feb. 11 at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by DARR Publicity with permission.
SoHo Playhouse has kicked off its International Fringe Encore Series, and one of the plays being celebrated in the festival is Jiggs Burgess’ Wounded. The show, a previous hit at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, centers on a person who is a “repressed nobody who thinks of himself as somebody.” Specifically, the play follows the characters of Carroll and Robert, who used to be classmates, but their lives went in different directions. One path led to a top university, while the other led to addiction and prison, according to press notes.
Performances of Wounded begin tonight, Jan. 24, and continue through Feb. 11 at the downtown venue. Craig Taggart and Shaw Jones star in the production, which is directed by Del Shores.
Burgess’ previous playwrighting efforts include everything from The Girl in the White Pinafore to The Red Suitcase. Recently he exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about his new play and this encore run of the show. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What inspired you to put pen to paper and create Wounded?
Hummingbirds and desperation. During the pandemic, I began attending an online writing course led by Del Shores. The great thing about a weekly class is that you have seven whole days to sit on your ass and not even think about writing until hours beforehand. This is something at which I excel. As I sat on my back porch desperately contemplating what 10-year-old piece of writing I was going to try to pass off as fresh and new, the hummingbirds began to fight for dominance at one of the feeders I generally set up every spring under the eaves of my back porch. Then there came a voice. Carroll’s. Familiar, but not really … in my stage directions, I describe his voice as “as if Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Leslie Jordan all attended the same orgy and, somehow, this creature was the result.”
“George! Martha!” the voice shrieked. “You two just hush up now, you hear? There never was an egg, much less a chick, so get over it.” Carroll. That over-compensating voice of his. It was much too good not to write down. And he just kept talking. I almost missed the class that night because I was writing Carroll as quickly and furiously as my fingers could manage. I wish there was more of a story to it, but that’s it. Hummingbirds and desperation. It’s not quite “gin and regret,” but it’ll do.
How would you describe the characters of Carroll and Robert? Are they very different?
Oh, gosh. This is a subject worthy of an essay. In most ways, Carroll and Robert are pretty much opposites. From childhood, Carroll has fought his weight, while Robert always has been and still, in his 50s, is fit. A runner’s build. Carroll’s always been a talker, a gossip, while Robert has always been reserved and quiet. The object of vicious gossip, Robert is understandably uncomfortable with it, although he plays along to get what he wants out of Carroll. Robert got his education at Baylor University, a kind of Texas Ivy League School for Baptists, something Carroll would have given his teeth for, as he had to settle for a junior college and a small state university. Until the accident, Robert was, generally, at ease with his peers. Carroll was never at ease with anyone. On the other hand, as an adult, Carroll has always been comfortable with his sexuality, and Robert really never accepted his. And what they want from each other is so different as to be incompatible. I could go on for pages about their differences, but you get the idea.
I think what’s more interesting to contemplate are the ways they’re the same. Both have been hurt, severely wounded, by the place in which they grew up. Both are still trying to compensate for that. They are both judgmental, but show it in different ways. They both desire acceptance from their community, but neither has a chance of getting it. And they both want control of their own situations. I think their commonalities provide as much conflict as their differences. Again, I could go on for pages, but that would deny some future paper-writing college kid the opportunity to do so, so I’ll leave it there.
Is this piece part of a larger work called Wounded/Sparrow? Could you explain?
Originally Wounded was to be the second act of a larger play, the first act titled Sparrow. Each act was intended stand alone as a play unto itself, and each featured the character of Carroll. They were connected, but in a way the audience would only figure out deep into Wounded. Or, at least my hope was they wouldn’t make the connection right off.
While I may work Sparrow into its own thing at some point, I have discovered much more in Wounded that needs to be said. What we are presenting at the SoHo Playhouse’s Fringe Encore Series has been cut down to 70-75 minutes to fit the time constraints inherent in any festival. Don’t get me wrong, you’re getting a hell of a ride in that time, but I have at least 20 more minutes of material. Some great moments of humor that inform us more about both characters had to go. And I really think that’s where Wounded should live, by itself as a 90-minute one act. Sparrow will have to wait its turn.
The play met with success and acclaim in Hollywood. What was that experience like?
Unexpected and incredible. Although I loved it from the start, Wounded started life as a throwaway piece. Well, that might be a little harsh, but it started as a filler piece for sure. When John Peterson of P3 Theater, who was producing the world premiere of my play The Red Suitcase, asked if I had anything that might fit the Hollywood Fringe, I tossed him Sparrow, Wounded, and another piece or two. He debated over Wounded, Sparrow, and another called Darell and Dixie, and finally landed on Wounded.
I knew the perfect actor to play Carroll (Craig Taggert), and Craig brought the perfect Robert (Shaw Jones) with him. Kismet. But, it was supposed to just be a show to get my name out in L.A. and nothing more. I mean, it was cut down to 55 minutes, and I knew it was weaker for it. So when it started garnering all the recognition it did, it caught me by complete surprise. I owe it to the performances Craig and Shaw gave. They were the very definition of brilliance in those roles. I’m just a guy who sits on his lonely hilltop talking to the hummingbirds. And tossing words at a piece of paper. Without people to bring those words to life, the work isn’t complete. I’ll forever be grateful to John Peterson for producing that first round at the Hollywood Fringe, Craig and Shaw for their incredible dedication, and to Darren Lee Cole of the SoHo Playhouse for even attending the show.
What’s it like sitting in the back of the theater and hearing your words come to life?
Surreal. Thrilling. Sometimes cringy. One of my favorite things is to hear the response when a joke hits just right, or a gasp when someone has put everything together and it’s caught them off guard. I have, however, been in the audience when neither of those things happened, and you just want to melt into the floor. Eye contact becomes near impossible. This is why I tend to stick to the shadowy corners when watching one of my shows.
What’s your collaboration with director Del Shores like?
Like working with a much wiser brother. One you actually like. I truly don’t know what I’d do without Del. He directed The Red Suitcase to rave reviews in L.A. and walked me through the process with tons of patience and humor. When he said he’d take on Wounded for the Fringe Encore Series, I knew I didn’t have to worry. Del likes to delve into the psychology of his characters, and Wounded had plenty for him to play around with. From the get go, we were on the same page, and whatever disagreements we had were negligible and easily worked through. Because he is a playwright himself, as a director, he stays true to the word and intent of the script; not every director does that. And, as good as Wounded was at the Hollywood Fringe, he has taken it to whole new levels. Both heights and depths. I just do not know what I would do without him. But that goes for our whole little demented Wounded family.
I do want to point out that Del likes to talk about how my mind is like a bad neighborhood; you know the old trope, you’d never go there alone. I just have to point out, I was born in this neighborhood. I didn’t have a choice. Del’s the one who decided to move there for a while. Who, then, is more twisted?
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Wounded by Jiggs Burgess plays tonight, Jan. 24, through Feb. 11 at the SoHo Playhouse as part of the International Fringe Encore Series in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
