Have you done much research into police life, such as riding around in cop cars?
Paul: No ride-alongs, but last December we went to my hometown in rural Minnesota and ended up hanging out with the local cops.
Oliver: We played Bingo at the VFW with one of them.
Hannah: And I won $50 bucks!
Paul: We talked to a lot of cops from all over the place. Hannah in particular talked to a lot of female cops to hear about their experiences. But, really, the stories of my hometown cops were huge for us.
The Debate Society originally started out as just the three of you. Now more people are involved. Are you worried things are going to spiral out of control?
Oliver: Well the artistic core of The Debate Society is always the three of us. Our first three shows starred only Hannah and Paul and recently we’ve brought in a few more actors. But the development of the world and story and script is always Hannah, Paul, and I. We aren’t trying to take on members, or turn into some sort of a huge collective. What keeps this honest, is that the play creation, at the very beginning is just us. Then we get the designers involved early, so the technical side is created right along side with the story.
Okay, how did you come up with the name, The Debate Society?
Oliver: Hannah thought of it.
Hannah: Yup. It just fit. I like naming things.
Paul: Hannah usually comes up with the names for things: The Debate Society, The Eaten Heart, Cape Disappointment... and I always hate them. And then I change my mind and love them. With the company name we wanted something a little bit vague so over time the flavor of the work would color the name.
How do you describe the kind of shows you put on? The term “experimental theater” seems so inadequate these days. How should people in the media label you?
Paul: Well someone in the media, Andy Horwitz at Culturebot, just pointed out that we’re a little hard to peg down because we’re maybe somewhere in between the “experimental” and more “traditional theater” worlds. Which I think is maybe true... but doesn’t really help you label us does it.
Hannah: We make plays.
Do you guys mingle at all with those other “cool” companies (Radiohole, NTOK, etc.)? Are there mixers?
Hannah: We have dinner parties with Banana Bag & Bodice
Oliver: We love those guys.
Paul: I think there’s kind of a nice openness among the companies that are around right now . . . Nature Theater, Banana Bag, Waterwell, ERS, so many more . . . we help each other out, see the work, share resources and information.
What were some of the things that inspired and/or influenced you when you were writing the play?
Paul: It’s connected to Cape Disappointment in a way in that there was no source story that we started with. As we got into it, I’d say we were inspired and influenced by: sport, weather, sad holidays we’ve all had . . .
Hannah: Darlene Love’s song “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, strangers’ holiday photos, bangs...
Oliver: The Nutcracker.
Why Shandon? Have you ever been there?
Hannah: We wanted to make a place that was a little isolated, maybe like an hour from a big city, and connected to the natural world: rivers, floods. And also a place that would be cold during the winter and hot during the summer. So we invented Shandon.
How much do The Debate Society's famously rich production elements (design, sound) influence what you write? And have you ever considered going the "poor theater" route and doing a show with a very spartan design?
Oliver: Every time we start a show I hope a little that we end up with a show that can fit in a few suitcases, and tour with one technician. A Thought About Raya is as close to the “poor theater” route as we’ve gone so far, and that certainly makes that show easier to tour. But so much of what we’re interested in creating is the details of a world and feeling the stories that objects and architecture and ephemera hold. So we find ourselves always excited to create these intricate and complex spaces. Hannah, by the way, grew up in her mom’s antique shop and has an incredible knack for finding strange things.
Hannah: We’re all collectors and are a little obsessive about finding stuff for our plays. Dressing our own sets is very important to us. Finding the right objects for our world and characters, where things go, wearing them out
Paul: From a writing/creating standpoint, it’s exciting to come up with a ideas like “kid runs down motel stairs, climbs on diving board and splashes into the pool” (from The Eaten Heart) or “Cops go and play racquetball” because we have such a great team of designers that we work with (Mike Riggs, Sydney Maresca, Nathan Leigh and on Buddy Cop 2 set designer Laura Jellinek) that we know if we imagine it . . . they’ll make it happen in a special way.
When are you going to revive The Snow Hen in NYC? That's the only one I haven't seen (though my predecessor did), and it's really maddening that my TDS collection is incomplete!
Paul: Man, we all want to.
Oliver: I think it’s a special play for us and since it was the second show we did and did it in a small, isolated theater, it’s a show not a lot of people saw. The set is still in storage, and we still have all the props. If anyone knows anyone willing to present it- we are ready to make it happen.
Hannah: Remounting The Snow Hen is certainly way up on our priority list. I guess I will have to start growing a feather out of my back again.
