Meet Your 2010 Festival Playwrights, Week Four! Hello, SHEILA CALLAGHAN

Each week we will be sharing an interview with a playwright featured in this year’s 2010 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. We’re thrilled to invite back Sheila Callaghan, whose play Lascivious Something finished its run in New York on June 6th.  This summer, we present her new play Port Out, Starboard Home.

1. How long have you been writing for the theatre? What was the creative spark that led you to become a playwright?

Been writing plays for 15 years. There was no spark for me really– I loved making theatre and loved writing, and couldn’t see a future without both in my life.

2. What inspired the creation of your play Port Out, Starboard Home? Tell us a little about the process of writing this piece.

foolsFURY went on a three day cruise and brought back material for me! I’ve been sculpting text based on their experiences and improv sessions with the gang since then. 

3. What do you hope to discover, improve, or change in your play during the festival process?

I hope to have a text in decent shape and a cohesive performance vocabulary for when we go into production in the fall. 

4. After the 2010 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, what’s next for you?

I’m still in the writer’s room for my TV show, so I’m going back to that. 

5. Desert Island Top Five Plays, go!

Erik Ehn, Beginner
Edward Albee, The Zoo Story
Caryl Churchill, Mad Forest
Suzan Lori-Parks, Imperceptibilities of the Third Kingdom
Sam Beckett, Waiting For Godot

For more information on Sheila Callaghan and the play, and to see a Festival Calendar of Events, please visit our website: http://box5668.temp.domains/~playwri4/

The 2010 Bay Area Playwrights Festival takes place JULY 23 – AUGUST 1, 2010 at the Thick House in Potrero Hill, SF.