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Interviews
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Brett C Leonard - A Proud Man Philip Fisher talks with American stage and film writer Brett C Leonard on a recent flying visit to the UK. Brett C Leonard is currently a proud man. He has recently been admitted as a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York and is riding high. In early September, he was in London for a few days to see a rehearsed reading of his latest play Roger and Vanessa at RADA. Apart from another informal reading in the United States, this was the world premiere. A mark of the ethos of LAByrinth is shown by the fact that not only had Leonard broken off from his busy schedule to travel to London, to support Charm Offensive's American Now season at the request of associate producer Julie Ann Marshal, so had three other LAByrinth members. As Leonard says, "This is a really important thing for US theatre and I wanted to be there to support it". LAByrinth is a very incestuous company, with plays written for specific actors and productions almost always initially produced in their own 60 seat-theatre, Center Stage. Roger and Vanessa, for example, was originally written with married couple David Zayas (another star of Jesus) and Liza Colon-Zayas in mind. It was developed at a LAB "Summer Intensive" and will now be read as part of the LAB Barn series at Center Stage. For the London production, Stephen Adly Guirgis, most famous here for his wonderful Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, took the part of Roger in a gap between working on Leonard's first film, JAILBAIT and a starring role with Ellen Barkin in a new film called Palindromes by Todd Solondz, famous for Fear Anxiety and Depression, Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse. Elizabeth Rodriguez, who is to star in new plays by both Guirgis and Leonard in the near future, gave a particularly feisty performance as the Latina Vanessa, prior to a trip home to Los Angeles. Perhaps even more impressive was the presence of Trevor Long, star of Leonard's last play Scotch and Water, whose main role in London was to whoop and holler as loudly as possible. There can be few theatre companies that would ensure that they sent a solid presence across the Atlantic for a play reading. Having said that, the reason the LAByrinth is taking over the off-Broadway scene is this close-knit feel of community that they engender. You can be sure that for any LAByrinth production, there will be a series of familiar names supporting the show. Top film actor Philip Seymour Hoffman may be the biggest name but he appears happy to muck in and get involved in plays by the likes of Guirgis, Leonard or John Patrick Shanley. As a producing company they are also spreading further afield and have just agreed to work on the latest play by Nilo Cruz. Pulitzer winner Anna in the Tropics will have a cast of whom the majority are LAB members but which also includes the likes of Jimmy Smits and Priscilla Lopez. It is already being tipped for a transfer on to Broadway in November. Cruz also has a play in the America Now series, Beauty of the Father. LAByrinth has now linked up with the George C Wolfe's Public Theater, probably the most prestigious off-Broadway house, to launch a series of new plays by the likes of Leonard, Guirgis and Keith Reddin. For a start, they are working there putting on productions of new plays for a few days. The intention is that the most successful of these will then be given extended runs at a later date. At the moment, Brett Leonard is leading a busy life. As well as bringing Roger and Vanessa to London, he is in post-production of his filmJAILBAIT, which he hopes will be released in time for the Sundance Festival in 2004. It may then follow the festival trail around the world prior to general release. He is also very excited about the prospects for a new play that he has written, Guinea-Pig Solo, another one specifically written for LAByrinth members, including artistic director John Ortiz, which will open at the Public. He was buzzing with prospective exciting news about this show but superstition would not let him release it before everything is finalised. In addition to these projects, he is juggling screenplay rewrites, film and theatre productions as well as acting as a writer, director and producer, but, as he says, "I wouldn't have it any other way". He is clearly loving his time with LAByrinth and emphasises what a joy it is to be a member of a company that "works hard and will never compromise the integrity of the work. They have a faith in themselves they demonstrate by producing everything with their own money". A company like this is absolutely vital for the health of American theatre. As Leonard says "at the moment, no one on Broadway is producing straight plays unless they have big-name film stars in". With ten plays currently on the stocks, there is a least a chance that LAByrinth will redress the balance and bring serious theatre back to Broadway. With their tremendous team of writers, directors and actors only a fool would bet against it.
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