Playwrights Matthew Ivan Bennett & Elaine Jarvik on Co-Creating ‘JUST ADD WATER’
BY MATTHEW IVAN BENNETT & ELAINE JARVIK
Plan-B Theatre's Artistic Director Jerry Rapier chatted with playwrights Matthew Ivan Bennett and Elaine Jarvik about the process of co-creating JUST ADD WATER.
How did this partnership come to be?
Matt: I rarely collaborate, but after two positive experiences with other writers at Pacific Play Company in Seattle, I decided to approach Elaine about collaborating on this play. I initially imagined we'd both write a bunch of short pieces and then combine them somehow. That's sort of what happened, but Elaine had the idea of sending a personified lake on a hero's journey.
Elaine: Matt asked if I wanted to collaborate on a play about the Great Salt Lake and I jumped at the chance, both because I admire him immensely and because my interest in the lake’s fate had been piqued by news reports and by my work on “Eb & Flo,” my Great Salt Lake play for grades K-3.
What made you nervous about writing together?
Matt: I suppose I was nervous about letting my strong opinions get in the way of our creative flow. But Elaine's background as a journalist, I think, counteracted my attachments. She's a gifted editor and never afraid to say "I don't know about this." In a way, her simply saying "I don't know about this" was enough to make me reconsider my approach to a scene or a line. We both ended up throwing a lot of material away. And we ended up deciding to rework our approach to many scenes just by talking through the weak points. It's very different to how I've written before, where I've put something out there, gotten feedback, and then rewritten. At every stage, Elaine and I discussed the point of scenes (as opposed to just critiquing), and that discussion became the basis, really, of the collaboration.
Elaine: Collaboration as writers can be tricky (whose voice will it be, will we agree about what to emphasize, etc.). Most of all, though, I worried that I wouldn’t be smart enough to keep up with him.
What excited you about writing together?
Matt: Well, in general, it's somewhat of a relief to know that you're not responsible for everything alone, and that you can discuss and rework the script before putting it out there. Specifically, I wanted to work with Elaine because of her sense of humor, her whimsy, her ability to see things less literally than I tend to.
Elaine: I trust Matt’s approach to writing and the world, and I knew we’d come up with something audiences would enjoy.
How did you decide how to start?
Matt: The work really got underhand when Elaine came up with the idea of personifying the lake in an archetypal hero's journey. The big problem, from the outset, was how to contain and explain the hyperobject of a huge, interconnected imperiled ecosystem. We thought at first that we'd have many protagonists, but that's tough to do in 90 minutes. So it began to gel when we committed to this idea of GSL taking human form and fighting for herself in the city.
Elaine: We both like to nerd out on research, so we started there. Then we brainstormed ways to present the facts in a way that would entertain playgoers. At first we thought about doing a sort of variety show. Then we landed on a hero’s journey.
What do you most admire about each other's writing?
Matt: What I admire most about her process is how big-picture she's able to be, while I tend to get bogged down in micro-details. Especially when we were rewriting, she shooed me out of that habit, and I think it will help my future writing. In terms of product, I admire how much work she puts into her humor. She worked hard on the Angry Slam Poet's piece, and the Farmer's sonnet. I never touched them, or made many suggestions particular to them, because they were perfect. And I also like how Elaine will try big ideas even if she backs away from them later.
Elaine: Matt is both logical and lyrical, which is a great combination. And he’s funny.
What is the strength of your own writing?Matt: I think I know how to hold tension between characters, and I know when a line still needs polish. I occasionally overwrite, but I'm seldom closed off to cutting and simplifying.
Elaine: In general, I hope that I can bring humor and tenderness to whatever subject I’m writing about. And I like to tackle big topics.What preconception did you have about each other that has since been debunked, if any?
JUST ADD WATER by Matthew Ivan Bennett & Elaine Jarvik and EB & FLO by Elaine Jarvik are The Great Salt Lake Plays, part of Wake the Great Salt Lake, a temporary art project supported by Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City Mayor's Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge.
TICKETS
JUST ADD WATER by Matthew Ivan Bennett & Elaine Jarvik receives its world premiere October 2-19 at Plan-B Theatre in the Studio Theatre at The Rose. Please click here for details and to purchase single tickets or subscribe.