Q&A with ANTARCTICA, WI playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer
As the proverbial ink dried on the latest draft of the script of the ANTARCTICA, WI world premiere, cast and crew were assembled and preparing to begin rehearsals, First Stage "sat down" (rather, discussed through via email between Milwaukee and Tasmania) with Playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer to learn a little more from his perspective on First Stage's upcoming 63rd world premiere play.
First Stage: What inspired you to create this play?
Finegan Kruckemeyer: This process began - as all the best ones do - with a rich conversation with a respected collaborator. Jeff Frank (First Stage's Artistic Director and a good friend) and I were in New York for other work, and talking about theatre but also (and arguably far more importantly) life. Jeff's Milwaukee theatre community had just experienced a tragedy and, as in all tight circles, the ripples of this were felt far and wide. He was feeling for young people in his city/America/the world, and all they face, and the tools needed to deal with this.
So he invited me, as an outsider looking in (an adult writing of teenagers, an Australian writing of the U.S.) to consider these themes and write about what it might be to be living in Milwaukee now, and growing up now, and encountering big transitions in a society which is also, right now, doing the same. Recognising my foreignness in this exercise, I came to Milwaukee and interviewed a lot of wonderful, insightful young people, and knocked up a questionnaire which was answered by wise youth and elders both.
And then in the early days of my first draft writing, your city encountered a great cultural rift, and an outpouring of complex racial politics thrust Milwaukee into the global spotlight. So many of the players in this sad but important real-life story were young and finding their voices, so of course I knew the script had to morph into something new, and try in some small way to chronicle this moment in time.
But also, more importantly, to use it as a metaphor - a young hero being proud of who they are, but also aspiring to become something greater. And a city, doing the same.
FS: What types of people did you interview? How long did this process take?
FK: I interviewed First Stage ensemble members at various stages of teenagehood. Being theatre kids, they were eloquent and open, but very quickly the fragilities and complexities (which we all, young and old, hold) showed themselves as well.
I interviewed students at Kluge Elementary who were already so knowledgeable about narrative structures and knowing what a good story needs and the shape it should take. Their own experiences and imaginings provided more great material to draw upon.
I sent a questionnaire out to the Milwaukee community, with separate things asked of the children and adults. The wave of answers which flowed back to me across the sea were profound and inspiring - some were proud, some were fearful, some simple, some complex, all incredibly helpful.
FS: Why do you feel this show important to a Milwaukee specific audience?
FK: Because it was born of your facts, and seeks to honour them in a fiction. So as a Milwaukee citizen watching, it should feel personal and representational and respectful and applicable to you. But for another viewer, in another place, it should have elements which do the same. The named world is yours, so the local truths should hit home a bit more - but then your lives and communities and stories may one day act as an analogy for other audiences, in other lands. And rightly so, because they are great and tragic and complex and inspiring.
FS: Why the title ANTARCTICA, WI?
FK: It's an overlaying of the metaphor and the truth. Antarctica is the place our hero imagines, and Milwaukee is the place he lives. In each case he's viewing a landscape of seismic shifts and things in motion - of huge objects (neighbourhoods, floes) reshaping themselves, splitting apart or moving together. And he's also viewing objects in those environments (Antarctic icebergs and Milwaukee citizens) which each show a small part of themselves, but also have a whole lot of things going on beneath.
Because I think ultimately that's important - to know that there are no more or less simple lives, and to realise that every person we'll ever encounter is thinking giant thoughts, and making giant decisions, while living out their regular-looking lives.
First Stage: What inspired you to create this play?
Finegan Kruckemeyer: This process began - as all the best ones do - with a rich conversation with a respected collaborator. Jeff Frank (First Stage's Artistic Director and a good friend) and I were in New York for other work, and talking about theatre but also (and arguably far more importantly) life. Jeff's Milwaukee theatre community had just experienced a tragedy and, as in all tight circles, the ripples of this were felt far and wide. He was feeling for young people in his city/America/the world, and all they face, and the tools needed to deal with this.
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| Playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer |
And then in the early days of my first draft writing, your city encountered a great cultural rift, and an outpouring of complex racial politics thrust Milwaukee into the global spotlight. So many of the players in this sad but important real-life story were young and finding their voices, so of course I knew the script had to morph into something new, and try in some small way to chronicle this moment in time.
But also, more importantly, to use it as a metaphor - a young hero being proud of who they are, but also aspiring to become something greater. And a city, doing the same.
FK: I interviewed First Stage ensemble members at various stages of teenagehood. Being theatre kids, they were eloquent and open, but very quickly the fragilities and complexities (which we all, young and old, hold) showed themselves as well.
I interviewed students at Kluge Elementary who were already so knowledgeable about narrative structures and knowing what a good story needs and the shape it should take. Their own experiences and imaginings provided more great material to draw upon.
I sent a questionnaire out to the Milwaukee community, with separate things asked of the children and adults. The wave of answers which flowed back to me across the sea were profound and inspiring - some were proud, some were fearful, some simple, some complex, all incredibly helpful.
FS: Why do you feel this show important to a Milwaukee specific audience?
FK: Because it was born of your facts, and seeks to honour them in a fiction. So as a Milwaukee citizen watching, it should feel personal and representational and respectful and applicable to you. But for another viewer, in another place, it should have elements which do the same. The named world is yours, so the local truths should hit home a bit more - but then your lives and communities and stories may one day act as an analogy for other audiences, in other lands. And rightly so, because they are great and tragic and complex and inspiring.
FS: Why the title ANTARCTICA, WI?
FK: It's an overlaying of the metaphor and the truth. Antarctica is the place our hero imagines, and Milwaukee is the place he lives. In each case he's viewing a landscape of seismic shifts and things in motion - of huge objects (neighbourhoods, floes) reshaping themselves, splitting apart or moving together. And he's also viewing objects in those environments (Antarctic icebergs and Milwaukee citizens) which each show a small part of themselves, but also have a whole lot of things going on beneath.
Because I think ultimately that's important - to know that there are no more or less simple lives, and to realise that every person we'll ever encounter is thinking giant thoughts, and making giant decisions, while living out their regular-looking lives.
ANTARCTICA, WI makes its world premiere at the Marcus Center's Todd Wehr Theater April 6 - 22, 2018. Details and tickets are available on the First Stage website.
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