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Photo credit of Charlotte Miller (above): Jody Christopherson

Playwright Rising

Charlotte Miller and her new play, Thieves

By Deborah Klugman

Samantha Soule (background) and Sarah Shaefer (foreground) in Charlotte Miller’s THIEVES (Photo by Ryan Miller)

Playwright Charlotte Miller has been affiliated with Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre, an off-Broadway company which nurtures developing playwrights; Weathervane, a financing company whose projects have so far been movies; and Rising Phoenix Rep, a coalition organization for theater professionals. Miller’s play Thieves opened March 18, and is one of three plays by female playwrights commissioned by Rising Phoenix Rep and Weathervane Productions. Her other plays include Raising Jo, The Magic Club, Favorites, Fur and Barn.  The latter was produced by Rising Phoenix last year. Miller was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She moved to New York to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, from where she graduated in 2003. She currently resides in Brooklyn.

STAGE RAW: When did you decide that you wanted to be a playwright?

CHARLOTTE MILLER: I decided to start writing when I was about 22 or 23. I had gotten out of school for acting a couple of years before and was really frustrated with everything about the industry.I was interviewing with agents and auditioning for plays that I didn’t like and waiting tables. I would get an audition and blow it because I didn’t like the writing, or I would blow it because I liked the writing and I would get too worked up to do a good job. It was a kind of dark, terrible time because I wasn’t doing the work I had moved to New York to do.

SR: What was your first writing experience?

CM: I started writing as a sort of private outlet and then I took a 6 week class with this amazing playwright named Brett C. Leonard. He was that perfect combination of tough and encouraging and really didn’t pull any punches when it came to the work. Then I studied with Lucy Thurber at Primary Stages for a little while and ended up assisting her for a couple of productions.That’s where I learned what diligent playwrights do in rehearsal. Lucy is a remarkable teacher and writer. She has such a breathtaking work ethic, but she also balances that with a sense of play. She is so generous with actors, with everyone really. I think that those two teachers, their influence, were the experiences that led me to the water with writing.

Cast of THIEVES clockwise around table from far left: Samantha Soule, Sarah Shaefer, MacLeod Andrews, John Wojda (standing), Chris Bellant, Addie Johnson. (Photo by Ryan Miller)

SR: Do you identify yourself as a woman playwright?

CM: I do identify as a woman playwright., but it’s not something I think about when an idea is gestating.

Is feminism vital to your work, do you think?

I think it would be an honor to be considered a feminist playwright but I don’t know if people think that my work answers the right questions to be considered so. But I like being a woman, although I find it deeply frustrating sometimes. I write strong women, I think that comes through.

In what way does being a woman impact on your work?

I don’t have the same experience of the world as men do. I could write a war movie with violence and all male characters – but it would be from my perspective, as a woman. I think it would be impossible for my gender to have no impact on my writing. Moving through the world as a woman requires a lot of adaptability.

Sarah Shaefer and Samantha Soule (Photo by Ryan Miller)

How do you get your ideas?

I just have something that crawls around in my guts and I write it because I feel like I have to.

In creating your characters, how much is personal experience and how much imagination?

It’s the two things woven together. Sometimes it’s familiar characters in unfamiliar circumstances. Sometimes I write about people that I think have nothing to do with me but then as I bring them closer I realize that they’re always a part of me. There’s always some truth to what I write, something that’s emotionally autobiographical. Some things are more literal than others but for the most part it’s a fifty-fifty split.

In broad terms, what is Thieves about?

Thieves tells the story of three estranged siblings and their father reuniting after the death of their mother. It takes place in East Texas, which is a place dear to my heart. I spent a lot of my childhood there. It’s a family play, about why families need each other, how they damage each other, and why they can’t seem to stay apart.

Addie Johnson and Samantha Soule (Photo by Ryan Miller)

How did you get involved with Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre?

I worked at Rattlestick as an assistant and then I had a couple of readings of my scripts. The people there were immediately welcoming and they made it clear from the beginning that they cared about my work. I’ve grown up with them in a way so it’s nice to head west with them like this, as an artistic family, along with Rising Phoenix Rep and Weathervane.

What playwrights do you like?

I love a lot of playwrights. Some heroes are Pinter, Chekhov, Albee, Tennessee Williams, and Irene Fornes, Annie Baker, Sarah Ruhl, anybody in the 13P crowd is awesome . . . I like a lot of different stuff, I love everything from Richard Foreman to Beckett to O’Neill to Genet… I’m all over the place.

Obviously I have a deep love for Lucy and Brett’s work, I love Daniel Talbott’s writing. . (Daniel Talbott is artistic director of Rising Phoenix Rep. His play Slipping was produced here in Los Angeles in 2013.) He’s directing Thieves. He’s a true Renaissance man. He tells brutal and beautiful stories whether he’s directing or writing or both, he’s magic.

Do you have a favorite play or plays?

I don’t. There’s too much out there. It’s always changing and it depends on what I’m working on or where I am in my own development, I guess. Some plays I carry around for structure and some I carry around for the feeling. I had a year where I needed Uncle Vanya close and another [when] it was The Maids. At the end of the day both of those plays are equally important to me, so I can’t call any play my favorite.

Thieves performs at El Portal through April 4. (818) 508-4200, www.elportaltheatre.com Read Stage Raw’s review here.