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Interview: Sheila Callaghan
The playwright talks to us about her new play, Roadkill Confidential
(L-R): Rebecca Henderson as Trevor and Danny Mastrogiorgio as FBI Man (Photo: photo: Heather Phelps-Lipton)
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In Roadkill Confidential, a noir-ish meditation on brutality, a possibly rogue g-man stalks a stalled-out artist with a suspicious affinity for accident victims. Traps are set, traps are sprung and everyone gets caught. The play’s writer, Sheila Callaghan, is also currently a writer for the Showtime original series United States of Tara.
Encore sits down with her to discuss her new play.
Where did the idea for this story/concept come from?
I researched work by the Critical Art Ensemble, a performance and installation art collective focused on the intersections between art, critical theory, technology and political activism. In the spring of 2004, Stephen Kurtz, a founding member of the group, was detained without charge under terrorism legislation due to suspicions aroused by his artwork, which often uses biological specimens, including pathogens, and ran afoul of terrorism legislation. He was ultimately proven innocent of any suspicious threatening activity, but his case made me ponder the intersection of art and fear.
What were your challenges in writing this for the theater?
The structure is very fragmented, and the voice of the FBI MAN is an unreliable narrator trying to guide us through the story—yet the play tries to hang itself on a spine of sorts. This made modulating the flow of info very tricky. How much is too much? When are we overtelling the story? How much onus falls on the FBI MAN for context versus the interior scenes themselves? Plus not knowing how the video and other design elements were going to take the pressure off some of the storytelling was nerve-wracking. But in the end I feel like we achieved a nice balance.
How would you describe the theme of the story?
There are many, but I suppose some questions the play attempts to ask are: when art provokes terror, is that provocation personal or global? When the goal of the art is to incite mass fear and hysteria, is the difference between art and terrorism purely contextual? And when violent acts are committed in service of the “greater good,” what is the moral obligation of those who commit such acts—to take responsibility for the acts themselves, or to justify the goodness of the goals? Or both? And…what is the price of fame?
Is there a moral to the story that you want the audience to leave with or think about?
I don’t believe so…this play hopes to ask those questions, then flee hysterically when it realizes there are no answers. The moral center is shifty in this play, as it is in reality.
Do you consider this a departure from your earlier plays?
It certainly is more gross, more visceral. Not too much romance in this one.
How involved do you get with the director’s process and bringing your story to life?
Kip and I are close longtime collaborators, and so we are in constant communication about the needs of the play. I think we have a mutual interest in figuring out how best to tell a story in a messy, angular, theatrical manner without getting in the way of the play. We’re getting closer every time!
Roadkill Confidential runs at the 3LD Art & Technology Center from September 7-28. Tickets are $25 for adults and $18 for students and can be purchased here or by calling 212-352-3101.