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Playwright Carey Crim during a recent rehearsal of Wake at The Purple Rose Theatre. Photo: PRTC
A FEW MINUTES WITH: Playwright Carey Crim of Wake at The Purple Rose Theatre
By Donald V. Calamia
New York-based playwright and former Detroiter Carey Crim has returned home for the world premiere of her second play, Wake, at The Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea. Crim recently talked with EncoreMichigan.com about the craft of play writing and how she came up with such an unusual storyline.
Wake is not only your second play, it's also your second play to receive its world premiere at The Purple Rose Theatre. That makes you a member of a very exclusive club: Only a handful of playwrights – including Lanford Wilson, Mitch Albom, Kim Carney, Dennis North, David MacGregor and Jeff Daniels – have had more than one world premiere at The Purple Rose. How does that make you feel?
Wow, I didn't realize that. I'm incredibly honored to be included in that company! I have a feeling Michael Brian Ogden will soon be included in that mix as well.
I love working at The Purple Rose. It's a wonderful environment for a writer that is built around making the play better. I feel safe and truly challenged at the same time, and that's a real gift.
Was Wake any easier to write than Growing Pretty? And if so, what did you learn from the first endeavor that you applied to this latest effort?
In some ways it was easier and in some ways it was more difficult.
It was a little easier, because I had been there before, so I understood the process a little better and knew what to expect. But, in some ways, ignorance really is bliss. I knew more about writing plays by the time I sat down to write Wake, so I expected a lot more from myself.
But, yes, I was definitely able to apply lessons from the first time around in terms of character and structure...and, well, everything really. I learn more with each play that I write, and I hope that will always be the case. I have one script in a drawer that may never see a stage that I learned a great deal from as well. Mostly what I learned was that it belonged in a drawer!
Molly Harrison, Wake's main character, is a mortician – an agoraphobic mortician. So where in the heck did this rather unique idea come from? (laughs)
I think at one point she was going to be psychic as well! Luckily, that idea never made it out of my head onto the page!
The original idea for Molly came to me quite a long time ago when I was driving across country from California to Michigan. It was one of those images that just sort of showed up. The first thought was just of an agoraphobic woman. Then, later, when I was working on a setting for the play, I tried to think of the worst place for an agoraphobic to live. I decided a funeral home would be pretty rough. But for Molly, it worked out, because it allowed her to work from home! Her grandmother and daughter live there as well. It's been really fun writing for three generations of women in the same household.
This is your first time as a playwright working with director Guy Sanville, who has staged the vast majority of world premieres at The Purple Rose. How important is it for the playwright to have a good rapport with his or her director?
Guy has been involved since I sent him the first draft, which was a little over a year ago. He's an incredible director, one of the best, and he's particularly gifted with new scripts.
I think the relationship between director and playwright is one of the most important elements in this process. You don't always have to agree; in fact, it's probably better if you don't agree on everything...as long as there is mutual respect and trust. I had that with Michelle (Mountain) last year, and I have it with Guy now. So I feel very lucky.
I don't think people realize how much a new script can change once the rehearsal process begins. How many drafts of Wake have you written?
I think I have written four complete drafts, but it's hard to say, because there have been so many minor changes along the way. We did two workshop weeks, or what they call greenhouses, during the year leading up to the first rehearsal that were enormously helpful.
But the BIGGEST change didn't come until after the first day of rehearsal. Guy and I both knew something was missing, but we weren't sure what it was. It turned out to be the character of Peter, someone who was mentioned in the previous drafts but never seen. So after the first rehearsal, we decided I would write some scenes for Peter, and Guy brought in Alex (Leydenfrost)
the next day to read and we were off and running. Now I can't imagine the play without him.
What have you cut that you really, really didn’t WANT to – but DID for the sake of the story?
There were many along the way. Some jokes, some parts of the writing that were comments rather than moving the action forward, things like that.
Guy says I'm pretty ruthless with my own work in terms of cuts. I always figure if I really miss it after a week or two, we can try putting it back in. I almost never miss it.
You started your career as an actress. Are you now focused more on your writing? Or does the acting bug still bite you every now and then?
I'm definitely focused more on writing, but I don't think the acting bug ever really goes away. I hope that being an actor has made me a better writer. And, who knows, maybe writing will make me a better actor down the line. But I feel most at home when I'm writing.
So with two scripts down – what's next? Is there another Carey Crim world premiere in our near future?
I certainly hope so! Right now I have three scripts in various stages of development.
One is the completed first draft that I mentioned before that is lying in a drawer. I read an interview with a playwright once, I think it may have been Michael Weller who said, sometimes the best thing a playwright can do with a script is know when to put it in a drawer, so for now, that's where it is.
The other two are coming along. I hope to do a reading of them soon, because I never really know what I have until I hear it out loud. I'm part of a theater company/writers group back in New York called Write Club. They are usually the first to hear my stuff, besides George, my husband, who is always my first "audience" - but he's, admittedly, a little biased.
And thanks for having me. I read your Web site from New York. It's a great way to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while, or to learn about someone I've never met. So, thank you for that! I've always loved and respected the theater community in Michigan, and hope to come home to it many times in the future!
ABOUT CAREY CRIM:
Carey Crim is thrilled to return to The Purple Rose Theatre Company with the world premiere of Wake after the production of her first play, Growing Pretty, last spring. A PRTC associate artist, she was last seen in Completing Dahlia and Book of Days. She was a member of The Second City Detroit Touring Company for two years, and has also acted at Meadow Brook Theatre and The Jewish Ensemble Theatre. Last summer, her ten-minute play, Knives and Spoons Go on the Right, was produced by Write Club NYC, a group of which she is a proud founding member. Her work has also been given readings at Ensemble Studio Theater, and she participates in Naked Angels weekly cold reading series. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and has studied at the Royal Court Theater in London.
SHOW DETAILS:
"Wake" has two preview performances (8 p.m. June 24-25; $20) before it opens June 26 and runs Wednesday through Sunday at The Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Tickets: $25-$38. For information: 734-433-7673 or www.purplerosetheatre.org.
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