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Winter 2005 Newsletter MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT "...if you want to eat an elephant JENN WORTH: In the last year, you have been commissioned
to write plays for three of the best “new writing” theatres
in London. How has all of this sudden recognition affected you?
Especially in light of the fact that you didn't start writing plays
until you were forty years old? RICHARD BEAN: In Britain we have maybe 500 hundred full time playwrights so the idea of fame, or even recognition is a tad gossamer. It‘s not very glamourous, I don‘t earn any money because I don‘t write for film or telly. The nicest thing is to have your work recognized and respected. There‘s nothing better than sitting in the auditorium when a play you‘ve written is working. JW: British critics have compared your work to that of Joe Orton. Was he an influence of yours? RB: It‘s not the work they compare it‘s the plays. My play, Mr. England, was compared to Orton, The Mentalists was compared to Pinter, and Toast and Under the Whaleback were compared to David Storey. You can‘t get any more different than Orton and Storey. Joe Orton I respect because he got his political message through with his farces and his comedies unlike less skilled dramatists who too often resort to polemic or even journalism. There‘s a vogue for polemic and ournalism in Britain at the moment—very worrying. JW: Before becoming a playwright, you spent years working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Since THE GOD BOTHERERS focuses on the crazy experiences of NGO workers in the developing world, there must be some element of auto-biography in the play, right? RB: Not strictly. I worked as a freelance occupational psychologist for ten years working a lot for Amnesty International, but the main source for THE GOD BOTHERERS is me sitting in pubs listening to my mates‘ stories when they came back from assignments abroad. JW: What is a God botherer? RB: A God botherer is someone who believes in God. There‘s a derogatory meaning to it, so it means someone who shoves their faith down your throat. Yeah, there‘s a proselytizing element to it. It might not have the same punch in America as in Britain because in Britain people generally disapprove of God botherers. JW: OK, so, what do they have to do with your play? RB: What God botherers don‘t ever understand is that they are part of the problem. Until we get to a point where ordinary believers fully understand that their religions are constructs, ways of living, made up cultures based on the bits of oral history that suit their lifestyles, then we are always going to have God botherers interfering with government, education, science and all the other areas where Reason should be king. We are in danger, very real danger, of entering a new Dark Age where the empirical is derided and blind faith rules. Frighteningly, the neo-conservative elements of all faiths are working together to put across their shared agenda. In England recently, we had a play taken off the stage Birmingham Rep because a mob of Sikhs had surrounded the theatre throwing bricks at it, and some of their number had broken into the building armed with swords. The Sikhs have made death threats to the playwright. In the middle of all this mob violence what happens? The Anglican Bishop of Birmingham comes out in support of the Sikhs! Right now in Britain there is a campaign against the government‘s proposal to extend the blasphemy laws to cover all religions. Currently the law protects Christianity but is never ever used. Extending the law would be a disaster, and would mean plays like THE GOD BOTHERERS would be unperformable because a) the author would be in prison and b) there would be a mob outside the theatre who would, legitimately, feel that the play was breaking the law by insulting their religion. JW: For this production, you decided to re-write the role of the young foreign aid worker Laura. Why? RB: I thought the American audience might find it easier to connect with the play if at least one character was American. JW: There are a lot of hilarious but specifically British jokes in the original version of the play. Did you find that rewriting the role of Laura led to more extensive rewrites? RB: Yes, but it was fun! And hopefully there are some good American jokes in there now. JW: Synapse Productions‘ stated mission is to “get people talking about things that matter.” What do you hope an American audience will come away from the play talking about? RB: In The Air Conditioned Nightmare, Henry Miller wrote:
“Let us stop murdering one another. The earth is not a lair,
neither is it a prison. The earth is a Paradise, the only one we
will ever know.” I‘d like politics and the business of
running countries and economies to be an entirely secular activity,
and religion to be an entirely private activity. I guess one play
can‘t achieve that, but if you want to eat an elephant you‘ve
got to start by taking the first bite.
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