Before the final interview in this series arrives next week, I thought we should acknowledge that turnabout is fair play.
That's why I asked my friend Caitlin Howle to turn the tables on me and fire off any questions at me that she wanted to ask.
If you're keeping track, that makes this (Interview #99) the only that isn't anonymous.
Here's the interview:
Caitlin: For those people who don’t know you, let’s start off with a refresher. Who are you, and how would you describe yourself?
Kevin: My name is Kevin Broccoli. I am the Artistic Director of Epic Theatre Company in Cranston, Rhode Island. I'm a writer and an actor and I am way too loud and constantly in need of attention.
Caitlin: What is your earliest theatre memory, and can we get a picture?
Kevin: If I had a picture, you could totally have it. I was in second grade, and we did an adaptation of that story about the monkeys who steal the guy's cap when he's sleeping? I wanted to be the guy, because even at the age of seven, I fundamentally understood that if there are thirty monkeys and one guy, you want to be the guy, because obviously, he's special. I was Monkey #27. I was furious. I've been furious ever since. Also, that kid was terrible in the role. I don't really remember that he was, but I'm sure I would have been better.
Caitlin: What is your worst theatre memory?
Kevin: I was cast in one of my dream roles, and the experience turned into a nightmare, because the director wanted to play the role himself, or they just thought it would be fun to try and break me. Either way, it was pretty bad. It made me just want to walk away from acting entirely and I never came that close again until I started this series.
Caitlin: What is your favorite thing you’ve ever done in theatre, writing, etc?
Kevin: Acting-wise, it would be Buyer and Cellar. That was a blast. Writing-wise--American Strippers. That'll always be my favorite.
Caitlin: Where all have you been published?
Kevin: Mainly in Motif Magazine, which I'm very grateful for. They let me go down whatever paths I want, and sometimes those paths are a little overgrown with crazy, so I'm very thankful to Emily and Mike for giving me that platform.
Caitlin: How do you feel knowing that when you Google your name the first thing that comes up is Kevin from The Office?
Kevin: When you grow up with the name Broccoli, you learn that you need to not take yourself too seriously. I still take myself way too seriously, but...I'm learning?
Caitlin: So, what, like six months ago I asked if I could interview you for your blog series, and here we are. For those who might not remember, why did you start your blog series, and more importantly, why did you decide to have the interviewees anonymous?
Kevin: It was never supposed to be an interview series. My relationship with theater is the longest relationship I've ever had in my life. It's been the thing I love more than anything since I was eight-years-old, and for the first time, theater was sleeping in the guest room, and I just felt...very far away from it. I felt like I could be done with it, and not care, and that scared me, because it wasn't like I had found another passion, I was just really disillusioned with this one. So I wrote about that, and after I did, a friend contacted me, because they were feeling the same way, and I said, 'This is good. We should talk about this in a more public way so people can hear another side of it,' but they felt uncomfortable putting their name to some of their feelings, so I offered to keep it anonymous. The benefit of that was that people weren't able to attach a face or a name to these feelings, and I think that's right. I think the things that have come out in the blog have really unsettled some people, and when we're unsettled, we think if we can attach that unsettled feeling to something tangible like a person or a theater, then we can fix the problem, but the thing is not the problem, the feeling is or the behavior is or the attitude is. So I never wanted to give people the out of saying "Well yeah, this person is a monster, so if Kevin tells me where their theater is, I can avoid that theater, or bully them online, and the problem is fixed." We have our own monsters. Everybody does. Every time I'd post a new interview somebody would message me and say 'Is this person local?' and I would say 'No, I don't ever interview local people or cover local stories,' and they would be so confused because we like to think our problems and our communities are unique, and they're not. We're all very alike.
Caitlin: What interview affected you the most? Why?
Kevin: Talking to an Artistic Director who was very sick, and who ended up passing away, that really hit me hard. I grew pretty close to her after our interview, and then got close to some people in her family, and I spoke with her husband after she passed. It was very emotional in a way that I'm not usually comfortable with--I don't do well with loss or death. It scares the s*** out of me, but both she and her husband were so generous and they reminded me why we do this. Why you shouldn't walk away if you can absolutely help it.
Caitlin: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned while writing them?
Kevin: That you shouldn't let straight men run theaters. Or anything else for that matter.
Caitlin: What was the biggest consequence of writing them? What fallout did you have?
Kevin: People threatened to sue me. I got some pretty nasty messages. Some of the people who were brought up in the interviews, even anonymously, weren't happy. People in power do not like being called out, and we're seeing a seismic shift in the theater community as a whole right now. People know their time is limited, and it's freaking them out. You love to see it.
Caitlin Howle: Now, I’m just going to ask questions that you’ll answer because I’m interested. What was your worst encounter with a patron, or a theatergoer?
Kevin: You know, I must be very lucky, because I really haven't had any standouts. I've had a few drunk people and the average cell phone incident, but nothing too bad. I love interacting with audiences. I'm very appreciative they're there, and even if they're a little rowdy, I'm willing to overlook it as long as I think they're invested in some way.
Caitlin: What was the hardest piece of theatre critique you not only received, but also had to give?
Kevin: I've gotten some pretty bad reviews, and I read them online a few months ago. I think you need to learn to take criticism and process it and learn from it. Critics have something important to offer. That being said, I always used to get mad as an actor when they left me out of the review. I'd rather you hate me than leave me out. At least if you hated me, you're acknowledging I did something. The hardest criticism I ever had to give was the first show I saw as a Motif reviewer that I didn't like, because I know all these people, and it's this conflict of interest that happens in a small state when everybody knows everybody. But I think it made me a better reviewer, because if I didn't know those people, I might have been tempted to just be snarky and hit submit on the review, whereas when you have to push yourself to ask why the stuff that wasn't working wasn't working, it makes the whole review a much better read.
Caitlin: Have you ever walked out of a show, if so, what show was it?
Kevin: I once walked out of a production of Richard III, because it was not only bad, but derivative to the point where I felt they had actually plagiarized another production. It was also self-absorbed. It felt like nobody involved was on the same page, and the director ultimately didn't care about the experience the audience was going to have watching it. I did wait for intermission though.
Caitlin: Who do you look up to the most in your theatre career?
Kevin: On a grand scale, I would say George C. Wolfe. I just look at his career and think 'Holy s***' one person accomplished all that in their life. Amazing. Locally, and I'm friends with her, but I would say Lynne Collinson. Phenomenal actor. Great director. An artist who also understands the business side of things. Generous. Kind. Just an all-around wonderful person.
Caitlin: What have you been doing during the pandemic other than writing for Motif Magazine?
Kevin: I have loved getting to catch up on all the things I never had time for until now. I'm almost caught up on my podcast backlog. I've watched so many movies and so many television shows, and I'm a culture nut, so all of that has been so great. It's wonderful to be able to be a big lump on the couch and not have to feel guilty about it.
Caitlin: What is your story with writing? What drew you to it? What was the first thing you wrote?
Kevin: I got a whole-ass degree in writing and had honestly no interest in it whatsoever. It was only after college that I started writing my own audition monologues, because I wanted to make sure I walked in the room with something nobody else was going to have. They tell you not to do that, but um, screw them? It's not like they'll know, and honestly, why do they care? I never understood that. Now they do the whole "Come in with a published monologue" nonsense. Okay, well, I just posted a monologue online. It's published. There you go. I did write some things in college, but there was never any drive behind it. It was all for fun. I really didn't think I would ever pursue it in any kind of professional way. I wrote a monologue for myself to perform called "The Understudy" and I performed it at an end-of-the-year showcase at the end of my sophomore year in college, and people responded really well to it, and that's when I sort of figured out I was going to have to create my own opportunities for myself, because my college was not good at that. Not at all. I had to learn to hustle.
Caitlin: What is your favorite thing you’ve written? Least favorite?
Kevin: I love American Strippers, like I said. American Drag too. That was a beautiful experience. Lizzie Borden, Lizzie Borden. It's always the more recent stuff I'm most excited about, but I have a few monologues of mine that make me cringe. I'm sure if I went back and looked at some my older plays, I would cringe too, which is why I usually don't. What you write is very much about who you are at that moment, and I'm just not there anymore when it comes to some of that stuff.
Caitlin: Are you looking forward to teaching playwriting next semester?
Kevin: I am, yeah. Hopefully this will convince some colleges that are closer to home to hire me too, since usually people here need some place outside of Rhode Island to legitimize someone first before they'll get onboard with them, but I've always wanted to have a regular work teaching at the college level, so this is a dream come true.
Caitlin: I think you have some pretty controversial advice about writing and the pandemic, can you tell me about it?
Kevin: I think it's very dangerous to tell people that it's totally cool to crawl in bed and stop being creative. I think that's helpful advice if this was a two-week crisis. We are going into month ten. My therapist was telling me that she was so furious at doctors who were telling their patients struggling with mental health that it was okay for them to give up on all the work they'd done to keep themselves afloat, because these are 'exceptional times.' How long can you give up the things that keep you feeling stable and where you find some kind of catharsis before anxiety and depression overwhelm you? I can't speak for everyone, but for me, I would say 'Write. Create.' It doesn't have to be good. Most of what I've created during this has been absolutely garbage, but so what? Most of what you create in the best of times is garbage anyway. There are never perfect circumstances in which to create, so just do it anyway, and if it's bad, it won't always be bad, because you'll do it so much, some of it is bound to be good. But the point right now isn't to make good art, it's just to make art. To do something.
Caitlin: What would you tell all fledgling theatre babies?
Kevin: Make work and make work for yourself and don't apologize for it. Remember that everyone is self-interested. Nobody is going to help you out of the goodness of their heart, and if they do, they won't do it long-term. Learn how to pitch things to people based on what they're going to get out of it. You can produce things without needing to start a theater company. You can produce two shows you want to do and call it a day. And I probably shouldn't say this, because I'm going to be a professor in a few weeks, but grad school is a scam. It's total bulls*** and you probably don't actually want to go, you just want to hit the snooze button on your life for a few years until you figure your s*** out or you think you're going to be magically gifted a cushy professor job once you have your MFA and neither of those things is a reason to go, so just get out there and start working. Start creating.
Caitlin: What would you tell novice writers looking to become playwrights?
Caitlin: Why are pugs the most wonderful dogs on the planet?
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