James McLindon Northampton, MA

An Interview with the Playwright

How did you hear about “The Seven”?

I believe I saw it in the listings compiled by the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis.

What was the impetus/basis/inspiration for writing the piece?

I watched a good friend of mine, who was an HR director, agonize about a series of layoffs that she had the misfortune to preside over, and that vicarious experience got me wondering specifically how these decisions get made and how they affect the people who make them. More generally, it started me thinking about what people do when life offers them no safe harbor.

Is this play representational of your writing style? Is it similar to or different from your other plays?

It’s similar to most of my work in that it tries to combine comedy and drama, although this one is slanted more towards drama than my work often is. It’s different in that I often write in a magical realism style; this play is pure realism.

What is the role of the short work in your playwriting career?

I like to use short work as a type of writing exercise. I often write a couple of ten-minute plays when I’m between major work on my full-length pieces because I find shorter pieces refreshing. Lately, I’ve begun to use them as a way to explore characters and situations that I’m contemplating for full-length plays.

What is your favorite play? Who is your favorite playwright?

I don’t know that I can limit myself to one play or playwright and I’m sure my list would differ from one day to the next: maybe Arcadia or Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard, Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, The Pillowman or The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh, almost anything by Naomi Wallace, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, and, of course, Hamlet or Lear by Shakespeare.

What is your next playwriting venture?

I have two full-length plays, Faith and Salvation, which are close to ready for production and for which I am trying to find a home. I also have three new full-lengths in need of development including Deirdre of the Sorrows, Closure and Dead and Buried. A play that I’m about to start from scratch in the coming year (and which in fact did arise out of a ten-minute play) is tentatively entitled Knuckleheads. The play is about a young girl who is left with an unwilling aunt when her single mother is called up to active duty, and whose only friend is a dark and dangerous Irish fairy.

Is there anything you would like to add?

My thanks to Fusion for giving me this opportunity to work with them in Albuquerque and at the Samuel French Festival in New York.