Playwright Spotlight: Way Beyond Water
In this Playwright Spotlight we welcome back Jan Neuberger to discuss her process and inspiration for her play, Way Beyond Water.
Orlando Shakes: Who or what inspired you to become a playwright?
Jan Neuberger: I don’t know that any one person or thing “inspired” the trip along this pathway. For one, there’s the sheer volume of play-going I’ve done, stretching back to my first days as an actor. Maybe the fascination with this form of storytelling goes back even farther, to the elementary school plays in which I shamelessly hammed it up (start practicing early, I always say). Then, when I made the choice to complete my undergrad degree at Trinity College in my late 50’s, one of the first courses I took was a very thoughtful and well-constructed Playwriting Workshop. That’s where all those stored-up, subconsciously-absorbed playmaking seeds began to germinate.
Orlando Shakes: What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Jan Neuberger: As an actor, the most thrilling part of the rehearsal process is that moment when you first hear a voice in your head articulate a thought that belongs to the character as opposed to the actor. I can’t say that I’ve been aware of exactly such a moment while writing, but there is a similar feeling to discovering that you’ve written a page of dialogue simply by getting out of the way and listening to the characters tell you what they want you to put on the page.
Orlando Shakes: What was the specific trigger for writing this play?
Jan Neuberger: Moving to Florida. I lived my whole life until my 62nd year within the orbit of New York City–grew up in a suburb 20 minutes west of the George Washington Bridge, moved into the city at 18 to go to NYU, lived there for the next 25 years and commuted from Connecticut for another 18. It didn’t take long after heading south to develop a sense that there was more to life in St. Petersburg than The Pier and the Dali Museum. I soon fell in love with a small church which had been established during the days of segregation as an Episcopal mission church for African Americans, who were not welcome at the Cathedral. I was quickly made to understand I had much to learn about my new context. About a year after the move, I dove into a 24-hour play festival: At 7:00 on Saturday evening, we playwrights received a prompt and a cast of actors for whom to write . A ten-minute play was to be completed by 7:00 Sunday morning and performed that evening. The prompt was “crime,” and it led me to imagine what would ultimately become the central event of Way Beyond Water.
Orlando Shakes: What is the theme or focus of this play?
Jan Neuberger: If I had to distill it down to one word, it would be limitation: How far can one soul bend to arrive at forgiveness? How far can one mind extend toward enlightenment–and beyond, to profound, fundamental change? How fully can personhood flower when it has been deprived of light and love? How far and how fast can a society evolve beyond the ugly, abhorrent aspects of its past?
Orlando Shakes: What four words or short phrases first spring to mind to describe your play?
Jan Neuberger: Legacies; Limitations; Loss; Lightning bugs (Not a bad by-line!)
Orlando Shakes: Is there something you’d like to write about or see a play about that hasn’t been done before?
Jan Neuberger: I’m certain there are many, many theatrical innovations to come, and I’m genuinely happy to step aside and make way for the innovators. I think I’m most susceptible to the pull of the past, and whatever stories I go on to tell are likely to originate there.
Orlando Shakes: If you are willing to talk about it – what new projects are on your horizon?
Jan Neuberger: In January, I put on my actor hat again for a while. I’ll be playing Miss Shingle in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Florida Rep, with Jason Parrish directing! As for plays…who knows what writing prompts are in my future?
About The Playwright: Jan Neuberger
JAN NEUBERGER (Second Season) A veteran actor of 46 years, Jan appeared in the first play of the Fire and Reign series, The Life and Death of Richard II. Her career has included Broadway hits and misses; Off-Broadway, regional, touring and stock productions in abundance; concerts at Carnegie and Royal Albert Halls; a couple films and a smattering of TV, including Hallmark’s recent True Love Blooms. Jan received her B.A. with honors in English at age 60, graduating summa cum laude from Trinity College. Her concentration in Creative Writing has wedded with her love of a theatrical tale-well-told to earn her a grant from the Arts Alliance of St. Petersburg (FL), where Way Beyond Water received its first public reading in August. Jan is grateful to Cynthia White and the Orlando Shakes New Play Development Department for honoring her with inclusion among this accomplished company of playwrights.
I am astonished that someone who didn’t grow up in the South has written a play that rings so true, in every way. I grew up in Columbia, SC, went to a segregated high school, and in 1964 went away to nursing school at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. The hospital, nursing school, and dormitories, which had all been segregated, were, by court order, integrated that year.
Being both a Southerner, who has known men like Earl, and a nurse of that era, I was deeply moved by this play. Halfway through the reading, I thought that it would end up with forgiveness, redemption, all that–but this playwright knows human nature, and it did not.
I couldn’t get this play off my mind after seeing it Sunday afternoon, so this afternoon, Wednesday, I took the script out into courtyard and spent a couple of hours reading. I’m still at a loss to understand how a Northerner wrote it.
Please bring this work to full production at Orlando Shakes.
Joanne, thank you so much for your validation. I have thoroughly violated the writer’s cardinal rule, “Write what you know,” so to hear that the story rings true to someone with experience of its historical context is very meaningful. That in the bargain you were inspired to re-engage with the story by reading the script–well, this playwright’s best hope is that the world of the play lingers and inspires thought and discussion well after a performance has ended, and it’s gratifying to know that that hope was realized.
I hope you’re currently enjoying and being inspired by the second weekend of PlayFest!
Jan