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Exclusive Interview: Susan Miller of 'Women+ On The Edge of Democracy' · The BSB Podcast

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  Today we're talking theater, democracy,
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  and the power of a story to spark a conversation.
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  Acclaimed playwright Susan Miller is one of thirty six women taking part
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  in Women+ on the Edge of Democracy,
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  a groundbreaking collection of short plays exploring the state
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  of American democracy. Known for her bold,
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  thought provoking work, Susan brings her unique voice to a project that asks
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  not only where we are as a country,
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  but where do we go from here. Thank you so much for being here today,
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  Susan.
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  I am I'm happy to to be here and and ~ you know have have
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  a a voice to helps represent this project,
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  this amazing project.
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  I mean, this is such an incredible and timely project to be a part of.
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  When you were invited to participate in Women+ on the Edge of Democracy,
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  what was your kind of your immediate reaction?
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  it was it was an honor and and thrilling because of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
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  connection to this wonderful new I don't didn't know the place,
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  but Flynn ~ organization
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  and entertainment spot.
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  ~ exciting to be able
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  I mean as a writer too, to have a voice,
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  ~ to be able to ~ be part of of this community
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  of difference in terms of who is going to,
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  you know, be part of it. and you know,
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  to have a conversation like this,
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  also to be able to be with other playwrights,
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  each of us having I mean we were not given any kind of
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  ~ you know, rule about theme or or tone or,
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  you know, is it is it is it a comedy,
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  is it sad? Is it I think we were offered the chance,
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  you know, to each go at our own ~ you know,
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  go with our own style and and and voice and way of thinking.
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  So did you know kind of like right away or where you wanted to take your project,
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  or did you have to kind of sit with it a little bit to kind of figure
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  out what you wanted to say?
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  ~ I I I had a beginning,
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  actually. I I had a couple of pages of thought that I was working on myself
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  and I thought, okay, the you know,
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  there there's there's let me build the characters.
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  I made some slight changes in in that.
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  There are two people in it. ~ and also the very strict
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  guidelines of a ten minute play,
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  which sometimes is harder to write.
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  Do you know?
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  I would
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  imagine 'cause having to be so concise and say everything you want to
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  say in ten minutes seems almost like an impossible task.
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  Well, some some days
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  it fell the way, but I I I I also I also think it it is a kind
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  of a ~ a gift, an opportunity to,
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  you know, get to to what you want to get to.
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  But also in the context of of this ~ you know,
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  what is a democracy? Do we wanna stay or go?
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  Do we you know, how do we deal with the world right now in this country?
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  So ~
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  Yeah, it it it was also a kind of joy to be able to find a
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  way through two characters in a certain context,
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  ~ to find a way to my way to deal with it.
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  Was there one of them that seemed almost more like formed in your head
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  as you kind of were developing this?
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  Or did they both kind of have very s distinct personalities?
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  ~ boy, okay, well, ~ they they were distinct in I think in age,
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  different ages, and perhaps where they came from,
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  ~ what situation started off the play.
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  And that's what that's what made me happy really is that okay,
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  I found a way to deal with chaos in a small
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  way and enlarge the conversation.
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  ~ anyhow, I I like that question.
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  ~ I think they were
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  You know
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  they are distinct.
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  And that's so cool though, like 'cause when you're just having two people,
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  you can kind of again with the ten minute kind of time frame,
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  which to me as a writer, that feels like,
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  my gosh, how do I do how do I put everything into ten minutes?
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  But to have two of them, it does make it,
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  you know, more succinct and like you're only having two people to bounce things
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  off of and to build the conversation you're trying to have there.
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  Yeah, yeah. And that part is both fun and obviously like ~ you don't wanna
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  be or I certainly don't wanna be,
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  what what what's the word?
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  I don't wanna I don't wanna just tell things.
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  You don't want them to happen.
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  And ~ so yeah.
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  So when it comes to your particular work,
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  what do you feel is kind of like the question that's at the core of the piece of it?
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  Hmm. Wow. Okay. Well,
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  I'm actually sort of confronting that question people seem to have ~
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  in this country now is should I stay or should I go?
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  Which I think and I put in the care one character's mouth,
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  that's the wrong question. You know,
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  that's that's
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  Okay.
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  not the right question. so
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  I love that.
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  yeah, so ~ what it what you know what what is what is this about?
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  And I think it's it's finding
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  also away because one of them well I don't want to tell the story now but one
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  Yeah.
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  character has just had a a certain like what I will
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  say this shall I say this how it opens well a at any rate she's been rattled
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  by something and
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  Okay.
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  so it's a discovery too of okay then what what are we doing here?
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  Why are some people
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  Exiting this this room or this moment.
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  Why are some people? She says at some point,
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  well, despite everything,
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  ~ I think we need to look at, you know,
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  the history. I mean, we need to know the history,
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  the good, the bad, the the thing,
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  the truth. and ~ she says ~ at some point,
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  I'm not.
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  Done here.
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  Okay. I mean think about it though,
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  knowledge just truly powered to so to be able to c compile as much to
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  be able to make a decision. It makes sense as to why she'd want that.
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  She'd want all the information to be able to determine what is the right call here
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  or if there's a right.
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  Mm. Right.
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  Now, when you approach a project such as this,
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  you know, do you approach
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  Okay.
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  it as like a playwright? Do you approach it as like a political writer?
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  Or is it are you simply like a citizen trying to make sense of a moment that's kind
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  of very chaotic and kind of difficult to live through?
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  ~ that's another interesting question.
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  ~ Brian, yes. I I
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  Yeah.
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  I I approach it as a playwright,
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  playwright citizen or citizen playwright.
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  For sure.
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  You know, defin definitely. But ~ I have this
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  ~ this opportunity to explore it in a way.
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  ~ here's what I avoid.
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  When we all get together over the last several years,
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  ~ get together, there's this cloud and
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  mm we either are going to talk about it endlessly or not at all.
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  And I, you know,
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  had to find a a way through that.
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  ~ you know, which I which I I hope I did.
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  ~ th th
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  Which it's it's cool
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  to have that connective piece through that because like again,
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  it's it's as a psychologist, I know that so many people feel very lost
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  in in the state of things right now and to be able to have somebody
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  who not that you're you're telling them what to to think or stuff,
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  but you're just giving them like a guideline to kind of sort through some
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  of that information of like, how do you deal with all of this?
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  Well, I'll tell you, I will tell you,
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  and we can decide later if this stays in here or it must be a secret.
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  The opening we've before the lights come up,
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  just before, we just hear this commotion like furniture being
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  t knocked over as people ~ it's a a meeting place,
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  people are exiting. We don't see them.
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  Just the aftermath,
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  Okay.
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  okay? And we see one person who's been kind of
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  leading this meeting and another person she does not know at all who
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  has heard the commotion from down the hall and he is at the doorway.
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  That's where we begin. And ~
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  That's such a unique place to be.
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  yeah, and and then it goes from there.
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  You know, it's no,
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  And I forgot your initial question,
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  Brian. ~
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  it i it it's okay. I think that that answer is though too,
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  that there's this
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  you are helping to kind of demystify some of the the incredible
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  w a lot of the things that we have to kind of sort through in today's world,
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  you know, of w especially
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  ~
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  when it comes to democracy.
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  Yeah, absolutely.
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  You know, one of the fascinating things about this project is that we're bringing
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  together so many different writers,
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  you know, thirty-six different voices with maybe different views
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  or political perspectives on how to handle some of these things.
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  What do you think happens when all those different voices are placed
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  in a conversation with one another?
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  I hope i it it it excites and fascinates people and also makes them
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  think and I guess most of all engage in conversation.
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  you know that I know some of the playwrights,
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  of course, and ~ you know I I ~ I haven't read any other plays yet.
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  And so ~ looking forward to that part for sure.
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  ~ and that so many different we're th this project is open
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  to not just theaters but community centers,
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  retirement homes, book clubs, people you know who have
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  a garage and want to want to use that like the old days.
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  I do love that aspect of this project too,
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  because it does bring the you know,
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  sometimes theater is I don't want to say exclusive,
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  but like, you you ha you go to a theater and you see a specific thing,
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  but this is really putting it kind of in the hands of anybody who wants to
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  be a part of it, which is so brilliant of an idea,
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  especially in today's day and age.
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  Yes. ~
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  yeah, I mean that's that was so attractive about it.
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  That is so attractive about it.
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  And I you know, I can't wait to see some of these,
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  you know, prom ~ they're not productions mainly,
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  but these gatherings. Or
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  Yeah.
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  yeah, in you know, in a in a way,
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  I have to say the
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  death of of ~ one of the leaders of of talk among people,
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  Gloria Steinem, who just died,
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  make made me think a little bit about,
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  I mean afterwards, like now. that's you know
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  I I don't only want to start a conversation like she did.
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  I'm not a leader in that way. But I certainly want
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  to ~ engage people where they ~ where we
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  can talk and can have ~ the larger conversation too.
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  You know, especially in to today's day and age where,
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  you know, after the ~ you know,
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  when we started going through the pandemic,
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  everybody became so isolated and to have a moment to come back as
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  a community to have these important conversations that we do need to be having.
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  We need to be talking about things like what's going on in our world and
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  how is it impacting people of any,
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  you know, minorities or any shapes,
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  sizes. ~ you know, and so to be able to have this and be able
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  to have this conversation, that is such a
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  That's a beauty that I think that the impact that ~ this project is gonna have
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  is just gonna be incredible when you think about it on the kind
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  of the national scale here.
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  Yeah, and and I I'm I'm really so happy to to meet you through this
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  and that you wanted and want to that you are so open
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  to to it and ~ and you know I mean as a writer yourself as you know in
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  a sense a performer but interviewer,
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  a psychologist. Yeah, I I appreciate that about you.
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  Yeah. Of course,
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  absolutely. So when it comes to like writing a ten minute play,
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  you know, not to get to get into the nitty gritty of that,
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  but like how do you
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  That's okay.
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  like how do you take something and just compress it into something so
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  s like so compact? Ten minutes doesn't give you a lot of time.
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  Right. And ~ fortunately, and I mean I mainly write l you know,
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  regular length place. ~ I shouldn't even say regular.
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  ~ I think the notion first of all is don't and I I'm pretty good
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  at this part, which is we don't need like,
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  hello, my name is or how are you,
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  or we don't need ~ the extra stuff.
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  So you have to start at some place that is going to
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  be first of all give us some hint or some desire to go further with it.
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  ~ and I
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  Sure.
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  yeah, and so actually during the pandemic I wrote a another a short play called
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  ~ Census and I I learned a lot from writing it actually with
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  two people. Well no there was more than that but ~ I think it you know
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  and you've got I guess at the same time you have to locate it.
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  Okay, you gotta locate that. ~ cause yeah,
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  I I feel I feel like that's a a big part of writing it.
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  Like anchors it almost.
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  That's it. Yeah, exactly. Whether that's a place or a situation that
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  has come up that has to be dealt with or to people
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  who like that that could go anywhere though.
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  And what I
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  love kind of with like you like your show here,
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  which kind of talking about is like there's there's a precipitating event that
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  happens and you're kind of looking at just a specific moment like
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  in that aftermath of like what does it mean to to have that precipitating event.
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  And that's really cool too, because those people are are used to seeing
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  you know long form or full plays where you have a beginning,
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  kind of middle and the end and everything kind of flows and like this is like just
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  a snapshot, just a little a piece of the puzzle here.
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  Yeah, and to build those characters,
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  like we have to get to know something about them.
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  Either in in this case, I I think we'd we'd I I
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  I had to choose, okay, you know,
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  what is he do what is I'm sorry,
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  what is the one woman doing and the other ~ without we have to learn
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  a little bit about them. This is the hard part,
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  I think. Without you know, going back
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  to hear their childhood story or I mean in I
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  I I it's it's a challenge that part.
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  ~
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  I mean, absolutely. I mean, but it's also what a cool like it's such a
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  has to be rewarding as a playwright to make something then that's even though
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  if it's a quick just ten minutes,
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  it's something that people can resonate with and it's something that people
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  can even see themselves in or connect with in a way like that has to
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  be such a reward to have that that piece of the puzzle all come together.
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  Totally,
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  totally. And I I I think this is rewarding and is that's why
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  I mean Susan's McSmith Blackburn Prize,
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  first of all, over so many years coming into its fiftieth year,
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  and I'm been so gifted by blessed
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  by having early connection to them.
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  ~ and then ~ to continue at a place where so many it's now
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  You know, it's it's become ~ a a known ~ a known honor
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  and the people among it just it's ~ very lucky in that regard.
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  So I will write them a one minute play if they ask.
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  Well, thank you so much for being here,
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  Susan, and talking with me. It's been so incredible to learn about this project
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  as a whole and also about your show as well.
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  and thank you for coming on here and talking with us about it.
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  ~
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  thanks for having me. right.
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  Women+
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  on the Edge of Democracy begins October twenty third and runs through November
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  third. So get your information about this production and how everything
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  has come together and how you can also participate by checking out their website,
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  which will be linked in the ~ will be linked in the comments.
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  So thank you so much for being here,
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  Susan.
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  Thanks, Brian. Good to meet you.