“Breaking the magic veil”

Notes from an Evening with Neil LaBute

By Kim Glann

Neil LaBute and moderator Howard Fine

In January, I attended an evening with playwright, screenwriter and all around provocative personality Neil LaBute. The event, a benefit for Vs. Theatre Company who will stage the Los Angeles premiere of LaBute’s The Mercy Seat at [Inside] the Ford in March and April, was intimate enough (200 people packed the Howard Fine Theatre) that you could get a sense of the person.   The evening dispelled a bit of the bad boy myth that surrounds the creator of some of the more unsavory characters to grace the stage. Here’s a bit of what I learned:

First and foremost, LaBute’s passion for theatre, especially intimate theatre, runs deep. “You can’t quite define theatre. There’s nothing quite like it. There’s something about the live experience, the smaller the better. As far as I am concerned, as close as I can get to the audience, the better to break that magic veil, to let the audience know it’s not quite so safe. Every night is special, different. Overall, there is a kinetic energy to a live performance that I can’t find anywhere else except perhaps hockey. “

LaBute has an intense respect and admiration for actors. “The play is a blueprint for what could be. I love watching actors work and seeing them breathe life into it and be the conduit to the audience, but to know it better than you did. Every so often you catch your breath. The work that they give in order to create the complexity of life [of a real person]…the kind of truth…it’s all made up but it’s meant to be real enough to pass for reality.”

While others may despise his characters, LaBute does not. “I try not to judge [my characters]. I only care that they are interesting.”

It’s possible that LaBute doesn’t have as bleak an outlook on relationships as his plays belie.  “As a writer, it’s far more interesting to keep it [love] just out of reach of the characters, tantalizingly just out of reach. I wouldn’t write if that wasn’t out there, as a possibility. I’m optimistic about the human condition, but skeptical as well. As a writer, the universe that’s much more interesting for me to explore is the one that’s more gray.”

LaBute

About writing, LaBute said, “I write every day. I don’t have a specific time of day that I write. I write when it moves me to do it.  I think of writing, because of my upbringing, in a blue collar way: ‘let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.’”  He added, “You, as a writer, are looking for the rift, the crack where the rain is starting to come in. Me, as a writer, I look for trouble. My job as a writer is to make trouble.”

Overall, the evening was quite fun.  Amanda Peet, Bill Pullman, Sharon Lawrence and Johnny Galecki were the celebrity readers - each reading a new piece of material by LaBute.  Talented local theatre actors Robyn Cohen, Jessica Collins, David Goryl and John Hemphill read snippets of LaBute’s previous work, cleverly edited together.  LaBute himself read two short stories, the first living up to his provocative reputation.

What came through the strongest -- Mr. LaBute knows how to write, and write well. Though it may be easy to judge the man based on his characters, in this case that would be a mistake.  Once he begins talking, you find that he’s intelligent and incredibly funny, with many kind things to say about the actors who bring his characters to life.

One last thing I learned: Neil LaBute can handle a little rejection.  “Rejection is hard for anybody. The beauty is, as a writer, there is a buffer there of the material. I just keep moving forward. I was born under the sign of the ox.  I’ve always felt that you sort of have to make your own way.”

The Mercy Seat at [Inside] the Ford runs March 19 - April 27

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Neil LaBute received his M.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre. His films include In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbor, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things, a film adaptation of his play by the same title, The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral. LaBute’s plays include Bash: latter-day plays, The Shape of Things, The Distance From Here, Fat Pig, This is How It Goes, Some Girl(s), Wrecks, In a Dark Dark House, reasons to be pretty and The Break of Noon. LaBute is also the author of a collection of short stories entitled Seconds of Pleasure.

Kim Glann, Productions Marketing Manager for the Ford Theatres/LA County Arts Commission, has worked in PR & marketing for the film industry and is still active as a producer and actor in the local theatre community. She attended An Evening with Neil Labute, moderated by Howard Fine, in January 2011.