INTERVIEW: Playwright Julia Specht critiques wealth, capitalism in new one-act
Photo: Megan Tusing, Dawn McGee, Patricia Randell and Delphi Harrington star in Julia Specht’s i believe in a republic in which money has a great deal to say. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Daniel / Provided by Matt Ross PR with permission.
Ensemble Studio Theatre’s 37th Marathon of One-Act Plays concludes June 29, so there are only a few more chances for audience members to check out these new mini works from a variety of talented writers. Featured in series C of the marathon is Julia Specht’s i believe in a republic in which money has a great deal to say.
Directed by Jamie Richards, Specht’s one-act play serves a humorous critique of capitalism and the cycle of oppression that occurs in a republic. Patricia Randell, Delphi Harrington, Dawn McGee and Megan Tusing star in the production.
Specht’s other theatrical work includes Down Cleghorn, also produced by EST; overpass; and Allston Rat City. Other work has been staged by such illustrious New York companies as The Tank, The Kraine and the New Ohio Theatre.
Recently Specht exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about her entry in this year’s marathon of one-acts. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What is your play about?
i believe in a republic in which money has a great deal to say is a goofy romp about Gilded Age socialites that turns into a critique of wealth, capitalism and the cycle of oppression. That sounds heady and emotionally exhausting, but I swear to God it’s fun.
Is writing a short play easier or tougher than a full-length, two-act play?
Both, I think. There’s no space for fat or self-indulgence in a good short play, and it can be hard to be honest enough with yourself to trim that out. But also, I find it’s easier to finesse and streamline a short play because there are just fewer pages to wrap your head around — it’s less difficult to think about the shape of 15 pages than it is to think about the shape of 90 pages, at least for me. You can also break out some really ridiculous stuff that would quickly become exhausting in a longer piece, and that’s fun, too.
What’s it like working with the Ensemble Studio Theatre?
Ensemble Studio Theatre was the first big theater in New York (slash anywhere?) to take a chance on my writing. I’ve been a member of Youngblood (EST’s early-career writers group) for two years now, and the support that EST has provided me in that time has helped me grow as a writer in so many ways. It’s such a special place.
When did you realize you had a talent for writing?
This is a weird question, and I don’t know. Talent is a weird concept that I only 40% believe in because I think the worry about ‘being talented’ shuts down a lot of burgeoning artists and intimidates people away from trying to create things at all. We’re human beings, and human beings write/paint/dance/sing/tell jokes/etc., and we all should feel free to do that no matter what. And I think a conversation about talent throws up a big wall.
That said, I’m good at what I do, and I work very, very hard to get better every day. I’m fortunate to have a stack of kind emails that people who have read my work have taken the time to write to me. I have a roster of memories of times that audience members have pulled me aside after shows to excitedly share their own stories or to cry because they felt seen. Those things make me feel like my writing has a place in the world and that I ought to keep doing it.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Ensemble Studio Theatre’s 37th Marathon of One-Act Plays continues through June 29. Julia Specht’s i believe in a republic in which some money has a great deal to say is part of series C. Click here for more information and tickets.
