INTERVIEW: New theatrical show ‘The Karens’ will stream this month
Photo: The Karens, written by Peter Gray, will be available to stream later this month. Photo courtesy of the Muse Collective / Provided by Emily Owens PR with permission.
The events of the past 18 months have been historic for a number of reasons. Of course, there’s the pandemic, which continues to rage across the world, and there’s also the growing Black Lives Matter movement, which resulted in protests in summer 2020 and beyond. A new president was elected, and a former president was impeached for the second time. Numerous news stories have been written about the monumental changes that took place in 2020 and 2021. It’s safe to say that society forever changed — and throughout these tumultuous times, the “Karen” meme has been used often on social media.
Peter Gray’s new play, titled The Karens, tries to understand society during this important datum point, and he does this exploration with comedy and biting social commentary. The play, directed by Michael Alvarez, comes courtesy of the Muse Collective, and audiences can experience the work Aug. 13-27. Perhaps fittingly, given the pandemic, the play will only be available to stream.
The show follows three former “mean girls” during the haze of summer 2020. They are interested in holding a microscope to society and maybe a mirror to themselves. Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Gray about his new play. His other works include Salem: Port-Mortem and Love, Medea, among others. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
When did you write The Karens? Was the idea inspired by the events of 2020?
Yes! I started writing in February of this year. The play is set in the summer of 2020, and I wanted to write a play that captured the wildness of those times in a fresh, fun way. Times have been so dark, and I feel like the little theater we’ve seen has been either super serious or else an old comedy that feels a million miles away from our current world. The Karens is really a comedy of our current moment, pulling from 1980s rom-coms, classical farce, meme humor, Oscar Wilde style wit and the sheer absurdity of contemporary life to create a scintillating comedy cocktail you won’t want to miss!
When writing, how do you know something is funny or satirical? Does it take an audience to realize that?
I always know what’s funny to me by what makes me laugh! Humor is so subjective, I don’t know if you can ever reach a place where you’re immune from some people not appreciating the joke. In The Karens, we focused on making a clear distinction between what the characters say and what the play itself is saying. The characters are flawed, but we found that foregrounding their good intentions and genuine passion to change the world allowed us to enjoy the wild ride they take us on.
We all put a great amount of effort into calibrating the comedy — it’s almost musical in how fine-tuned it is. We all had so much fun making this piece, and in my experience, people really pick up on that more than anything. I hope audiences are cackling into their computer screens just as much as they would in a theater!
Although it’s billed as a comedy, clearly there’s a lot of social commentary in the work. What do you think the piece says about the world?
I think comedy is actually the best place to make social commentary. People are so much more receptive to self-reflection when they’re laughing along with you!
The Karens highlights how necessary laughter and self-care are in times of turmoil and how true change struggles to take shape when we don’t love ourselves, flaws and all. It asks us to look at the images we put out into the world, how we actually engage with our Photoshopped personas, and how we can live authentic lives while nurturing authentic friendships in our contemporary world.
Are you bummed that the play is not having an in-person engagement?
Given that it’s based around a meme and takes place in 2020 when people only really saw each other over Zoom, the virtual element feels quite fitting, actually. It’s not just a filmed stage play either. The structure’s really built around the question of who we are when a camera’s recording us and how our story is shaped by whomever is holding the camera. The camera lens itself becomes kind of a fourth character, and I think we explore the format of Zoom calls and social media footage in fresh, exciting ways.
That being said, Michael has some thrilling ideas about how the piece would operate on stage, and we’d love to share that version with the world, too!
What has it been like working with director Michael Alvarez?
I don’t think the piece would exist without him. He was the one who saw the value in it from just a three sentence synopsis and pushed me to throw myself into this zany world! From the beginning, I knew it was essential to assemble a team that innately understood and got behind the humor of this piece, and Michael brought together the dream team. Everybody’s been so game, so brilliant and so thoughtful, especially our Karens (Morgan Danielle Day, Felicia Santiago, and LaurenSage Browning)!
I always learn so much working with Michael. We’re both very detail-oriented, but my primary focus is the language. And he is meticulous about aspects of production I never typically think about. He has a whole Color Story mapped out down to an actor’s fingernail polish, and I’m just happy if the sound doesn’t cut out! Our different skill sets always make for a riveting final product.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Karens, by Peter Gray and presented by the Muse Collective, will be available to stream Aug. 13-27. Click here for more information and tickets.
