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The New Georges Website says this New York City-based organization is about "sparking opportunities and relationships that push adventurous women artists and their work forward into the world." t2k's Brook Stowe talked with NG's Artistic Director Susan Bernfield and Literary Manager Emily DeVoti to find out just what kind of adventure they're on... theater2k: Where does the name "New Georges" come from, and why did you choose to name your organization that? Susan Bernfield: It's for George Sand and George Eliot, women who took men's names in order to be writers. It's an imperfect metaphor, but we're stuck with it. When I was first discussing the company and what its mission might be with my initial collaborators, I put together an enormous list of possible names I'd brainstormed, many of them ridiculous, and this is what they picked. Go figure. t2k: New Georges has been around since 1992. In both dog and theater years, that is an impressive age. What do you attribute this longevity to? SB: Well, I think I have to attribute it to my having a serious screw loose or something! Or just not being willing to let go! Because it's just crazy to do this, it's insane. When I look back, I can't even believe the things I did to get shows up -- or down, I mean, plenty of times I was the only person left at strike, and I am not exactly the person you want to have striking the set by herself. I dunno, I guess even when things have seemed pretty dark it's looked like we were finally getting somewhere, and I just had too much invested to give up. t2k: Has there been a time or times when you thought it was all going to come apart? SB: I think the closest it came to coming apart was very early on. I'd invited some people into the company who were pretty poisonous, and they were making my life miserable. Long story, but finally I just confronted them and broke it off. It was pretty painful, but when I got outside it and realized what had been happening, I was pretty pleased that I'd stood up for myself, and was a lot clearer about what I wanted. t2k: New Georges was founded primarily to address the gender imbalance in produced playwrights -- SB: Well, actually, New Georges was founded primarily to address finding good roles for me and my partners! It evolved into what it is because once we got that going, we saw such an enormous need for all of this. t2k: OK. Have you seen this balance shift since you began in 1992? SB: I do think the balance is shifting. t2k: Has it become more even, in the number of women playwrights produced in New York City compared to men? Worse? SB: I see a lot more plays by women being produced, but also just a lot more access to plays by women. It seemed very mysterious to me when I was starting out -- what playwrights were out there, and how to find them. There are still problems, and still theaters which rarely produce women, but I think there's a lot more consciousness of the whole issue and of what work is out there. t2k: How do you think this might track over the next 10-11 years? SB: I think we're going to see even more balance. Primarily because of what I see in the early-career artists I meet. They're just not taking no for an answer, and someday something's gotta give. Or -- I'd like to think so! t2k: The New Georges process acts as a kind of creative matchmaker -- bringing various like-minded artists together who may not have connected otherwise. Can you give examples of some of these connections you helped to broker, and what has come of the ensuing relationships/associations? |
