Tympanic Theater Company Blog

Producing a new play ain't easy.  Lucky for Tympanic we've got a stellar director/playwright duo that makes it look easy as puddin' and pie.  Mmmmm…pie!  This week we do some Q&A with Tim (director) and Dan (playwright) about OZMA and HARRIET rehearsals, process, and life in general.

1. Which famous duo would you compare yourselves to?

TIM:   Lewis and Clark (even kind of looks like us!)  

Whoa! Eerie, PA. Ch-ch-check out the resemblance!?!

DAN: I’d probably go with Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy.  If they teamed up, that is.  I think that happened on South Park once.  On second thought, that would be pretty disturbing.  Let’s just say we’re like Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear.  Or Bert and Ernie.  Or just Jim Henson and Frank Oz.  

 2. Without giving too much away, tell us a little bit about Ozma and Harriet.

T: It’s a play about obsession and finding yourself through fulfilling those needs. 

D: What Tim said.  Plus a lot of stuff with robots, sex, and T.G.I.F.

3. What is it about this story that tickles your fancy?  What gets you all jazzed and juiced to share this with the Chicago community?

T: The story is kind of a modern day Frankenstein tale with a lot of moral areas to explore.  I am extremely excited to share a world premiere play produced by the wonderful off-loop Tympanic Theatre from the mind of Mr. Caffrey.  It is already turning out to be a truly collaborative piece, with a great renegade storefront style, cast, and production team.  It’s very risky and it’s very exciting to be a part of this group and I’m eager to share our creation with Chicago. 

D: Without patting myself on the back too much, I like how the play uses pretty goofy aspects of pop culture to explore darker themes.  I’m always a big fan of when something seemingly silly can make you think about strange issues in unexpected ways.  If the final script succeeds in doing that, I’ll be really happy.  Plus it’s always a pleasure to work with Mr. Bambara and we’ve got a killer cast on our hands.

                                                                               The 'Killer Cast'…sort of…

4. What character in the play do you find yourself relating to most?  Why?

T: I actually identify with Frank.  He’s a frustrated genius with a deep moral complex.  He represses a lot of emotion which causes him to go down some dark paths.  I’ve been down some of those paths and it’s not pretty.  It’s good for me as a director because I’m not afraid to push the actors down some darker routes to see what they can discover.

D: Although it pains me to say it, I’ll have to go with Frank as well.  I feel like I can identify with his paranoia when it comes to relationships and not always saying what’s on my mind.  Those aren’t the best traits to have, but I feel like they’re pretty common and relatable.  Yikes!

5. The script deals a lot with media’s influence on the decisions we make in our every day lives.  Have you ever found yourself acting a certain way in a real life situation based on what you saw on television?

T: I act like characters I see on TV (i.e. Michael Scott) all the time and I especially emulated certain icons as an adolescent.  What’s great about this script is that Ozma is raised on the morals of T.G.I.F. shows.  This type of programming was on everywhere during the early 90’s, a time where my own morals were heavily influenced by what I knew in pop culture.

D: All the time!  It’s really terrible.  I’ll see or read about conflicts with fictional characters and will think those are indicators of how similar situations will turn out in real life, even though the situation might be completely different and those characters are…um, fake.  Sometimes, I’ll see a cool way that some problem gets resolved on a television show I like and think to myself “man, I hope I’m in a situation like that so I can act the same way!”  It’s awful. Awful and true.

6. If you were stranded on a deserted Island for life and could only take one television show with you, what show would it be?  Why?

T: Cheers – every time Cheers comes on I feel at home.

D: Definitely The Sopranos.  I’ve watched the entire series three times all the way through and never get tired of it.  In fact, I find myself often wishing that I was watching it again.  It says so much about so many things and is just so goddamn well executed.  You always find new things in every episode.

7. Dan, what were some of your biggest influences while writing this script?  Tim, what are some of yours as you go into rehearsals?

D: Well, the script came out of a little ten minute piece I wrote with the same name.  In that version, this woman pretty much seduces this android that her husband built.  They talk about wanting to be in a committed relationship and all that.  The play ends with them having sex, and this transforms the android into a human.  The woman starts talking about how now she can leave her husband and they can settle down and have their own children, which causes the android to freak out and leave.  The whole thing was fun and very silly.  Anyway, that basic idea came out of this comic book called Army@Love.  It’s this satire on modern warfare and in it, there is this soldier who’s a huge horror movie fan and falls in love with this woman he meets in the mountains.  But there’s a catch.  She’s actually this cursed were-creature who turns into a sasquatch type beast for days at a time.  The soldier soon discovers that the more they have sex, the faster her transformation back to human form becomes.  And that was really interesting to me; just the idea that sex and/or love can transform something into a human being.  So that was the original genesis of the script.  Since then, it’s become something completely different.  There’s still an android who falls in love with a woman, but the similarities end there.  It’s much darker and in the revision process, I’d say I’ve been really inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey and of course, Frankenstein, and the sitcoms from the golden years of T.G.I.F., but in a really twisted way, particularly Dinosaurs.  Wow, that was a really long answer.  So yeah…

 Army@Love + 2001: A Space Odyssey + Frankenstein + T.G.I.F. = Ozma & Harriet.  

T: I am heavily influenced by David Mamet’s literature on practical directing and acting as well as the collaborative practices of the LAByrinth Theatre of New York.  I’ve also had the good fortune to assistant direct some great Chicago directors and I bring everything I’ve learned from them to rehearsal.  It’s helped me to develop a process called “funneling” which allows for a lot for collaboration with a practical out come.

8. What would your robot name be?

 T: BAM-B AR-A-BOT

D: Bicentennial Man.  Just kidding.  Probably The D-caffinator.

9.  In five words or less, what’s the number one reason someone should come see Ozma and Harriet?

T: The dance of joy!

D: You got it, dude!

For more 'deets' on OZMA AND HARRIET hop on over to www.tympanictheatre.org.

Thanks for reading!

Susan