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| "I love writing comedy. I love making an audience laugh" - Playwright, Kate Moira Ryan. Photo by Dixie Sheridan |
Q. Tell me how you came to write this play.
A. I wanted to write a play about a typical dinner party in NYC.
Of course, since I'm a lesbian and have a child, I made all my
characters gay or lesbian and put crazy kids in.
Q. What kinds of responsibilities did you feel when
it came to representing both disabled people, and gay and lesbian
people?
A. I grew up with a differently abled mother so it's all normal
to me. I wanted to portray the amputee in the play as a person;
not always a likable person, but a regular human being. But I'm
not writing "The Miracle Worker" here. And as a gay
person, I'm incredibly irreverent - so if you're expecting some
nice evening of gay acceptance, head to Broadway!
Q. How does "Bass for Picasso" break new
ground artistically?
A. It actually gets me back closer to my roots as a playwright.
As non-traditional as this play is, it's got a traditional structure
- it takes place during a dinner and it's farce. I love to write
comedy. At the end of the day, I'm an entertainer.
Q. What sort of other pop culture works is "Bass
for Picasso" in the vein of?
A. I am very eclectic. Right now I'm reading, Chelsea Handler's
new book, "Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang" and "Cleaving"
by Julie Powell. Travel inspires me. I have a passion for Russia
and Russian theater. My latest project was an adaptation of a
post-Soviet woman writer named Olga Mukhina. Reality TV inspires
me.
Q: What or who is inspiring you right now?
A. Seeing the world through my son's eyes. He's ten. It doesn't
matter what I do or what I achieve, all he wants is what's on
page 12 of the Lego catalog.
Q. What's it like working with a company that supports
differently abled performers, Theater Breaking Through Barriers?
A. I'm having a blast. It's no different than working with any
other company. Although, when my actress asks if she can take
her leg off and chase the other character around the room with
it, then it is a little different. Last Friday we had a discussion
about what's the softest part of Anita's prosthetic leg so when
she hits Felice on the head, she won't knock her out. Everyone
held up the leg and got banged with it. It was kind of like the
play -- a little surreal, a little crazy, but very, very fun.
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