INTERVIEW: ‘Eco Village’ explores New Age optimism
Photo: Eco Village, by Phoebe Nir, follows a woman as she travels across the United States to an eco village. Photo courtesy of Eco Village creative team / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
Eco Village, the new play by Phoebe Nir, follows a woman as she hitchhikes her way across the United States to live in an eco village she read about on the internet. When she arrives, Robin is a bit startled at the survival skills and New Age optimism of her new environment.
The show, now playing at The Theatre at St. Clement’s in Midtown Manhattan, stars Lily Davis, Michael Oloyede, Pearl Rhein, Gregory Isaac Stone, Arianna Williams and Zoe Wilson. Chloe Treat directs the ensemble.
Nir is an accomplished writer and songwriter. She was named by President Barack Obama as a Presidential Scholar of the Arts in Writing.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Nir about the new show, which continues through Feb. 16. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What inspired Eco Village?
Eco Village was largely inspired by experiences that I’ve had living and working around alternative communities. I like to think of it as a hippie version of Lord of the Flies, in which the ideals of modern progressivism collide with the age-old challenges of survival vs. cooperation.
Do you feel that the play comments on issues impacting society today?
The original Lord of the Flies was written after the great wars of the 20th century, which had seriously caused people to question whether the ‘civilizing’ forces of western culture would save the world. Today, people are questioning civilization more than ever, and we are actively dismantling and reshaping all kinds of institutions that have previously been sacrosanct. The play doesn’t defend these institutions, but it suggests that any system built by humans is likely to be highly flawed because aggression and selfishness are at least somewhat hard-wired.
How does the show explore the “complexities of community”?
It seems almost too obvious to mention, but sexual desire and competitiveness are going to be major sources of drama in any community, and hippie communities are no exception. Another biggie is: What do we do with people who are really desperate, who are incapable of contributing? How much discomfort are we really willing to deal with to accommodate the needs of strangers, before we abandon our ideals?
What has it been like working with this ensemble and director Chloe Treat?
Chloe and the cast have really brought the humor and romance of the play to life. The actors are so smart and have tremendous chemistry, and watching the six of them bounce off of one another is a pretty epic cage match.
During the development stages, did the story come first, or did the character of Robin come first?
I wrote the first draft of this play in four days this summer, right after coming home from a really wild/disastrous road trip to an eco village upstate. The character of Robin is based pretty heavily on me, and her narrations are kind of my diary entries for the things that I observed. She’s way out of her depth and has a lot to learn!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Eco Village, written by Phoebe Nir, continues through Feb. 16 at The Theatre at St. Clement’s in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
