Kyle Paoletta Albuquerque, NM

An Interview with the Playwright

How did you hear about “The Seven”?

I’ve followed FUSION for a few years now, and after seeing last years Seven (“Left Unsaid”), I knew I had to submit.

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

I wanted to write a story about the contemporary warriors that no one knows without writing a story about the ongoing war that everyone knows (or at least think they do)—and hopefully to avoid the pedantic, self-righteous style that is almost endemic of anything written thus far about war in the 21st Century.

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

I’d like to think everything I write is representative of my writing style. Whether or not it shares anything in particular with other pieces I’ve written, it’s still mine.

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

Some stories take ten minutes to tell and some take two hours. If I write a short play, it’s because that’s how long the story needs to be and is. What other role could there be?

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

I’d have to pick “Krapp’s Last Tape” by Samuel Beckett. Not an impressively unique choice of playwrights, obviously, but there’s something about “Krapp’s” that’s very different from Beckett’s other work. While parts of “Godot” or “Endgame” can seem at times contrived and overtly intellectually (and even antagonisticly so), Krapp’s language manages to be just as bamboozling without losing it’s humanity. It’s one of the few examples of a play like that that is beyond all else elegant.

What is your next playwriting venture?

Stay tuned.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I just hope that none of this is being read as some sort of insight into my writing or anything of the kind. You get from my plays what you get from them—I would hate for anything I say or do to change that experience.