When Dreamwell began, its founders weren't entirely sure what sort of theatre they were going to create. Early shows included Of Mice and Men, Greater Tuna and Barefoot in Park, hardly the cutting edge shows that we've come to expect from Dreamwell in recent years. Yet even in those early years, Dreamwell was producing
Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief and the recently revived Baby with the Bathwater, shows that suggested a path toward that edge. By 2002, they were clearly establishing themselves as a theatre of exploration, willing to produce shows you've never heard of because they challenged our preconceptions about life. Shows like Don Delillo's Valparaiso and Terry Lawrence's Rosenstrasse. (Google 'em.)In recent years, Dreamwell has created theme seasons, where all of the shows revolve a central idea. The Taboo Bijou season, for instance, featured plays that dealt with various societal taboos. Shows like Blackbird and Poona the F*ckdog were part of that season. Currently, Dreamwell is producing Ova-tion! A Season of Women's Words. Every play was written by a female playwright. The first show of the season was Women of Lockerbie, about the effects of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. On Friday, Dreamwell will open House of Yes by Wendy MacLeod. We recently had a chance to talk to Chuck Dufano, co-artistic director of Dreamwell, and ask him about the theatre.
Iowa Theatre Blog: For the last few years, Dreamwell have been doing theme seasons. Can you tell us why you decided to do that and if you see that continuing? What’s the advantage to a theme season for the audience?
Chuck Dufano: When we first starting selecting plays for previous seasons, we noticed they had a connection that seemed to pique the audience's interest. A themed season would allow an audience to theatrically examine different facets of the same idea. We will continue to have themed seasons as long as we find connections between plays that we want to do. We don't feel obligated to have a theme.
Why did you decide to do a season of female playwrights?
We noticed that they were under-represented in previous seasons. Therefore, a season of female playwrights seemed warranted. This season's theme was not selected in the same way as our other themes, but we didn't feel we needed to find any other connection among these plays. The selection committee enjoyed the depth and variety of the many plays we considered. However, pre-selection of season themes will not be our regular procedure.
Tell us about House of Yes. Why would be interested in this play?
House of Yes was one of the few comedies we found and we genuinely believe it is a funny play. Good comedies are hard to come by. This play examines serious confrontations within a dysfunctional family using cutting dark humor and lots of fun twists. Audiences may find it easier to tackle serious issues when they are presented as a comedy vs. a drama.
Naomi Wallace, who wrote the third play of your season, Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, is a former University of Iowa student. Did you factor that into your selection?
Wallace's connection to the University of Iowa was not a factor in our decision to select Trestle at Pope Lick Creek. The committee reviewed four of her plays and this one was selected because we believed it would resonate most with our audience.
Children’s Hour is your most recognizable play and Lillian Hellman the most known of the playwrights for this season. Dreamwell has always been about doing the new and wild and wacky. So why a Lillian Hellman play?
Well, all of our plays can't be new and wild and wacky! Seriously, there is cause to do a classic play. The themes found in The Children's Hour -- bullying, coming out, and the damage of rumor and gossip -- are still relevant today.
Neighborhood 3 deals with the addiction of young people to video games. What is unique about this play? Why is it a good fit for this season?
We believe that despite the eerie context this play will be accessible to anyone in the audience. One of us (we won't say who) has never played a video game in his/her life and s/he totally got what the play is all about. So, the committee concluded this play could speak to a wide audience. And besides, it's new and wild and wacky.
I see you are doing another writers joust – a contest for original plays. Your website says “Dreamwell is looking for full length plays that demonstrate women’s impact on some aspect of life (for example, but not limited to, family, society, politics, religion, or art).” Can you expand on that? Maybe give some examples of play we all know about that would fit this theme?
We really don't want to say more about this theme because we don't want to tie the theme down too much. We're just looking for plays that depict and/or examine the impact and/or influence women have in some facet of life.
Some examples of plays that reflect this theme would be:
Miss Evers' Boys
Evita
Mrs. Packard
Master Class
A Raisin in the Sun
A Doll's House
The Sound of Music
Doubt
What else do you want to tell us about Dreamwell or this particular season?
Come see the plays or audition! You won't be disappointed. Each play offers new challenges for Dreamwell and we'd like you to join us in exploring them.
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