Wondering what exactly "Sheherezade" is, when it started, and how Wily West became involved in it? For the answers, we asked our Executive Producer (and director) Laylah Muran:
What is Sheherezade?
Sheherezade is a short play festival now in its 13th year showcasing the members of the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco (PCSF). It's changed a lot over the years. It started out as a swan song for 2 of the board members who were retiring from the PCSF Board of Directors after twenty years. That first event was really popular and the festival became the annual fundraiser production. Initially, Sheherezade was just a collection of staged readings. After a few years, it became “A Year in Review” theme with 12 plays - one for each month and twelve actors. About seven or eight years ago it transformed into a full production (with costumes and sets) and the number of plays was reduced down to 10, and then 8 plays. The theme stayed “A Year in Review”, but rather than taking a month-by-month approach, the theme was broadened to have a connection to an event that happened in the previous year.
What's different about this year's show?
Last year's theme was expanded from the “Year in Review” to just “2012” and we left it open for the playwrights to interpret that subject however they wanted. I was worried that we'd end up with a bunch of plays about the Mayan Apocalypse; thankfully we didn’t! I’d been wanting to eliminate the theme completely, and last year’s diverse play topics proved that we weren't locked into anything... so this year we eliminated the theme. We asked the PCSF playwrights to send us their best short work, 8 pages or less. I'm really excited about the resulting line-up!
The ensemble is the smallest it has ever been with just seven actors. Since the ensemble is one of the things that I believe sets the festival apart, I'm happy that we're able to tighten it up even further. We'll get to see these phenomenal actors in a number of different roles. And for another first, we also have four directors this year, which will add some variety and balance to the show.
How did you end up involved in Sheherezade?
I started out on the literary committee and helped select plays for a couple of years. I was the Chairman of the Board for PCSF when Jody Handley retired from the Board and from producing Sheherezade. I was interested in producing, so I volunteered.
How did Wily West end up partnering and producing the show for PCSF?
The partnership between PCSF and Wily West seemed like a natural fit. PCSF is really a development organization and doesn’t have the resources to do a full production on this scale every year. Morgan Ludlow, the founder of Wily West Productions, was also a member of PCSF and that is how he and I met Quinn Whitaker (Producing Director) and Wes Cayabyab (Technical Director) so the four of us already had good good relationships with a number of the playwright members. Quinn, Wes, and I were already producing Sheherezade in addition to a full theatrical season with Wily West. Given our overlapping relationships, Morgan and I had already been talking about uniting the two groups for the annual festival. Both organizations are aligned in our missions for developing local works, so this collaboration was just an obvious direction.
Can you tell us about the show this year?
We have a terrific line-up of plays that span the gamut from poignant to romantic to melodrama to farce. There's revenge, forbidden love, a disastrous first date, messed up apologies, love at first sight, lost dreams, surviving child abuse, and much more.
Patricia Milton's AFTER FRANK (which I'm directing), is a deliciously over-the-top encounter between a widow and her husband's mistress - one of many, actually. Beverly Butler's first Sheherezade play, INDELIBLE, directed by Kat Kneisel who returns for her second stint directing (and third Sheherezade) looks at opposites attracting in an unlikely setting. Kat is also directing Diane Sampson's ROMULUS & JEWEL: A 10-MINUTE TRAGEDY IN FIVE ACTS, which is sure to be an audience favorite with heightened drama and doomed inter-species love.
AUTO-INCORRECT, by returning playwright Bridgette Dutta Portman and directed by Ann Thomas in her fourth year, is a hilarious take on a first date gone bad. Examining the nature of apologies and marriage, Brady Brophy-Hilton directs PINATA FIGHT, Elizabeth Flanagan's Sheherezade debut. Jennifer Lynne Roberts also makes her Sheherezade debut with CHRYSOMELIDAE HIDE NO MORE, also directed by Brady Brophy-Hilton.
On the serious side we have TWO TO FIVE WITH THREE SECONDS TO GO, written by Susan Jackson, who directed Sheherezade in its earlier days. Also returning, is playwright Rod McFadden with his take on relationships and loyalty with LAURA & CURT: A STORY OF LOVE AND BIG NUMBERS, and an exhilarating tale of courage and survival in SAY UNCLE by Mordecai Cohen Ettinger.
Thanks Laylah!
Come back for more info on Wily West Production's first full length production of the year:
Sheherezade 13
Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco
April 12-27, 2013
... for Tickets, Click HERE
