INTERVIEW: Director Rory McGregor on ‘Buggy Baby’ and those scary rabbits
Photo: Buggy Baby stars, from left, Zack Segel, Hadi Tabbal and Erin Neufer. Photo courtesy of Emilio Madrid / Provided by Everyman Agency with permission.
It’s rare for the New York theater scene to welcome horror as a genre, but that’s exactly what audiences will receive when they book a ticket for Buggy Baby, a play written by Josh Azouz and directed by Rory McGregor. Well, technically the show is a surreal horror comedy, as press notes indicate, but still this one is a unique entry for New York theater.
Buggy Baby follows the characters of Jaden (Hadi Tabbal) and Nur (Rana Roy), who have traveled to London and are surviving in a dingy room with Baby Aya (Erin Neufer). Everything seems typical enough, and then the giant rabbits come — also, maybe Baby Aya is no baby after all. That’s it with the secrets; no more spoilers.
McGregor is a well-known alumnus of New York theater. He served as assistant director of The Lehman Trilogy, which this past weekend won the Tony Award for Best Play. Other credits include Interior at 59E59 Theaters, Macbeth at the Connelly Theatre and Ransom at Arts on Site, among others. In addition to The Lehman Trilogy, he has also worked on Broadway on M. Butterfly, Ink and Sea Wall / A Life.
Recently McGregor exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about Azouz’s play, which continues through June 26 at the Astoria Performing Arts Center in Long Island City, New York City. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What attracted you to this play?
When I first read Buggy Baby, I was immediately struck by how singular and original Josh Azouz’s voice is and how his sensibilities seemed to marry with my own. In a time where a lot of theatre feels very staid, safe and traditional in its structure, Buggy Baby’s peculiar story and heightened language felt like a portal to a different world. I was taken with how Josh uses surrealism and metaphor to explore dark themes and trauma, how bleakness is often followed by comedy, as if the headspin of the play — the lightness and the darkness — allows us to understand more viscerally what the unconventional family at the heart of this play are going through.
It’s not a play for the faint of heart, but it is as exceptionally entertaining as it is unsettling. And I think audiences will find themselves enraptured. If you do come down to see Buggy Baby you will find a play which is entirely unique and an experience that you cannot have at any other play in New York right now.
How would you define the genre of the play? Would you consider it a horror tale?
Horror is definitely the operative word, but so is comedy. I remember speaking to Josh early on in the process and him explaining that when he was writing Buggy Baby, he was thinking a lot about how an infant’s experience of the world can change at breakneck speeds — things can go from being really funny to terrifying in a split second — and him wanting that to be embedded in the structure of the play so that the audience is also going on that ride dramatically.
So, our experience of the play totally shifts on a dime. You’re never quite sure when and where the men dressed as rabbits will appear from, and fear creeps in the more the play devolves. But the play also uses humor to disarm. Erin Neufer plays Baby Aya, who acts as the voice of reason in the play but is the brightness in the bleak world. Her buoyancy and sense of fun keeps us floating further and further down the rabbit hole.
What’s it like to work with this ensemble?
I have been blessed with an insanely talented group of collaborators — both onstage and off. Our first week of rehearsal was moved entirely online because an actor got COVID, but our cast still brought their A-game. Rana Roy has a brilliant dramaturgical mind, and it was fantastic digging into the play and the character of Nur with her.
Once we got into rehearsals, the room was alive with ideas and energy. I had worked with Rana and Erin Neufer before as the assistant director on Ink, but it was amazing to work with them in a different setting and to see their chemistry as mother and daughter — the bathtub scene always gets me. Rana is heartbreaking as Nur, and Erin is a sensational clown. And it is a privilege to watch all of the mannerisms and detail she brings to Aya. Hadi Tabbal is a very quick learner. His character of Jaden is a complex and difficult character to play, and he pulls it off so effortlessly.
Due to losing a week of rehearsal because of COVID and some other logistical hiccups, we really only had two weeks of rehearsal, which also meant that our first real proper uninterrupted run of the show was actually our first preview. However, it has been really wonderful to watch these performances and the show grow over previews towards a truly beautiful opening night show. They are giving mesmerizing performances, and the play changes and feels different every night. We are all really proud of this production.
How do you pull off menacing rabbits in a theater?
I think I am going to follow the mantra of many horror movies on this one and say that the most successful suspense is often the fear of the unknown … so I am going to leave this question unanswered!
But in all seriousness, the answer is that this play requires everyone in it to give 110% — to pull off the atmosphere and ambience of the play, and I have two really committed actors (Zack Segel and Jeffrey Brabant) who were willing to go the extra mile with the bunnies to make sure that they are deeply unsettling. You never have any idea where they are going to appear from or what they are going to do next.
What was the experience like working on The Lehman Trilogy?
I’ve always been taken by the notion that a great artist requires great mentors, and so I have tried to only assist or associate direct on projects where I really admire the work of the director and creative team. Joining Sam Mendes on The Lehman Trilogy was a real honor and was a gift to witness his creative process and give my assistance. I learnt a great deal from his visionary mind and leadership. It also helps that the play is brilliant and so are the people! It was lovely to be reunited with those folks and have that as one of my first projects back after the shutdown.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Buggy Baby, directed by Rory McGregor, continues through June 26 at the Astoria Performing Arts Center in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
