By: Matthew Kwatinetz

On Nov. 6, Theater Under Ground is proud to present a reading of Vincent Delaney’s play, Fallbridge, as a part of the On The Table series (see calendar this issue). Vincent’s work has been produced, commissioned and developed in every region of the US, including the Humana Festival, the Magic, Woolly Mammoth, the Empty Space, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, PlayLabs, the New Harmony Project, Pittsburgh Public, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie, the Children’s Theatre Company, and the Cleveland Playhouse.  He is the recipient of a Bush Fellowship, a McKnight Fellowship, the University of Alabama’s Apsey Award, the Nathan Miller Award, and an Artist Grant from the Seattle Arts Commission. His work is published by Smith and Kraus, Heineman, Samuel French, Dramatics Magazine and Playscripts.com. On Nov. 6, Theater Under Ground is proud to present a reading of Vincent Delaney’s play, Fallbridge, as a part of the On The Table series (see calendar this issue). Vincent’s work has been produced, commissioned and developed in every region of the US, including the Humana Festival, the Magic, Woolly Mammoth, the Empty Space, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, PlayLabs, the New Harmony Project, Pittsburgh Public, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, the Guthrie, the Children’s Theatre Company, and the Cleveland Playhouse.  He is the recipient of a Bush Fellowship, a McKnight Fellowship, the University of Alabama’s Apsey Award, the Nathan Miller Award, and an Artist Grant from the Seattle Arts Commission. His work is published by Smith and Kraus, Heineman, Samuel French, Dramatics Magazine and Playscripts.com.

LIVEWIRE: Is there a story behind how you came up with the idea for Fallbridge?

Vincent Delaney (VD): I’m known for writing plays that draw from history, like Art of Bad Men.  In this case, I wanted to write something more autobiographical.  This one is about my own family.

LIVEWIRE: One of the things I love about Fallbridge is the inexplicable strength of the relationship between the brothers. Are they modeled on people that you know?

VD: Without giving too much away, the brothers are real, though only one is alive.  Some of the play speculates on a reunion that was in fact never possible, but might have happened.  That’s the beginning moment of the story.
 
LIVEWIRE: In the opening notes of the play, you say “the time is today”. And yet, the world created seems like one that could just as easily have been from the 1880s. Can you tell me about what that means to you or why you chose this setting?

VD: Fallbridge is a real town, which has been in the process of dying for about 85 years.  It’s a weirdly compelling death--the worse things get, the more I seem to want to go back and gawk at my childhood.  I think there’s a certain part of the American soul that is old and dying in much the same way--it’s true in a lot of small towns, and for people who have left them.

LIVEWIRE: What do you hope the audience member walks away with, or thinks about, or is moved by?

VD: The sense of loss and majesty that we’d get from an hour in a town like Fallbridge.  The possibility of hope for people who don’t expect it.  The way a town and a family can die in the same way, and come to mean the same thing.
 
LIVEWIRE: Do you see yourself as living in Seattle long-term?
 
VD: Seattle is a problematic town for a playwright--I think there’s a unique underappreciation for the writer here, compared with other cities where I’ve worked.  But I have a great core of hope, based on the smart individual artists I’ve met and worked with here.

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Catch Theater Under Ground’s On The Table reading of Vincent Delaney’s Fallbridge
Nov. 6 at 7:30pm in CHAC Lower Level
$5 suggested donation