Neil LaBute on what’s interesting to him in theatre
Neil Labute replies to critics of his play, Wrecks, and says:
“For me, though, it is the world of the “possible” that is interesting. As a playwright, I feel it is my calling to transport an audience to a new place, a world that has heretofore been unseen or heard. I’m not a documentarian; my job is to ask questions in a new and exciting way rather than answer them the same way, over and over. The main question asked in this play – can someone honestly love another person whom they have deceived for 30 years? – seems well worth asking, at least in the relative safety of the theatre. If not on the stage, then where else?”
And he ends
“I have also been asked to take “dramaturgical responsibility” for my actions, to which I can only say: keep the hell off my grass. I have no responsibility to anyone other than my characters.”
That’s a useful thought for writers to keep in mind: “a responsibility to characters”. I wonder if LaBute feels much of a responsibility to the audience.
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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