{"id":78,"date":"2015-12-21T19:06:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T19:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cs2.enl.auth.gr\/12\/?p=78"},"modified":"2023-03-01T16:53:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T16:53:19","slug":"international-and-in-home-theatre-new-audiences-new-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/12\/international-and-in-home-theatre-new-audiences-new-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"International and In-Home Theatre: New Audiences, New Spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interview with Paul Heller<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Lissa Tyler Renaud<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n

\"HELLER2\"<\/p>\n

Clearly, the dictum \u201cwrite what you know\u201d has made no impression on San Francisco playwright Paul Heller. He seems to be magnetized by everything unfamiliar. He writes plays about cultures he doesn\u2019t know, and works with people whose language he doesn\u2019t share. The subjects of his plays encompass Aztec stories, an explorer\u2019s letters, Russian samizdat poetry, Catholic mysticism, and criminality; his plays\u2019 concerns include a woman\u2019s trauma, gay attraction, and the orphans of Mexican drug dealers. He\u2019s written works for puppeteers, dancers, slam poets, and musicians. With this impressive reach in his work, it is no surprise that it appeals to a refreshingly unusual mix of audience members.<\/p>\n

Here’s a 2010 interview with Heller and colleagues about his play, Beijing, California<\/em>. Heller received coveted and prestigious grants for the play\u2014as he has for other plays\u2014and a warm welcome from the Asian American Theater Company, which gave the play its premiere production.<\/p>\n