Kate Schwartz interviews drew david combs

Here's an archive of Associate Kate's interview of drew that was conducted during production of the early process reading of Sharp Country.
 
KATE:  Parley Productions will be live-streaming your play in development, Sharp Country, on Saturday March 26th at 7pm. Theatre is beginning to re-emerge after a long two-year pause. Has the Pandemic affected your writing? If so, can you speak more about this? 

DREW: Unfortunately I’ve started writing a play about Covid! So I guess the pandemic has definitely affected my writing in some ways. In other ways I think I am still writing for the traditional pre-pandemic style of theatre, although we’ve been talking in Parley about how things are changing. I’ve only seen one show? I think? In person, besides Aposiopesis, and I enjoyed it, but it still feels very different. I’m interested in the possibilities of online work, but it lacks the essential human connection that makes theatre magical.

KATE:  Sharp Country is about a woman who is forced to confront her painful past. This is such a timeless and universal theme in theatre and literature. Without giving too much away, what sets your story apart from other plays that tackle this raw subject matter? 

You can view our reading of Sharp Country on our YouTube channel.

watch it here

DREW: I think the biggest difference between Sharp Country and other stories like it is that Cali isn’t her best self at any point. Of course we want to root for the protagonist, but Cali doesn’t make that easy, and no one is exactly a hero in this story. Everyone makes a poor choice at some point, but how they deal with the outcome differs. With this play I wanted to examine family ties, and what constitutes a family, and what keeps a family together or apart.

KATE: Can you give us a glimpse into your writing process? What keeps you inspired and motivated to write?

DREW:  The things that inspire me are usually phrases or brief situations. For example, I take the bus to work and it drives past a watch repair store. The window’s been broken out so there’s a plywood board with “OPEN FOR REPAIR” and the address, 301, but the way it’s written it looks like “OPEN FOR 301 REPAIR.” What is a 301 and why would it need repair? Then I combine the phrase with a theme or something that’s been on my mind. Because of another very talented playwright in Parley, I’ve been thinking about the way humans connect to non-human objects or machines––robots. So now I have the beginnings of a plot! The way I keep myself motivated to write is honestly bringing my work to Parley. I have a community of people who not only want to read it, but want to help me improve and continue writing it.
 
KATE: What has being a part of Parley meant to you over the years? 
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DREW: It’s difficult to overstate the importance that Parley has for me. I joined with the idea that I was going to get a sort of literary salon experience, and instead I’ve gained a community of lifelong friends, not to sound corny. Parley is of course mostly about writing, but there’s always much more than that in the way of support and friendship. I won’t say too much about our meetings except that there’s almost always a point at which we realize we’ve been hanging out and talking instead of discussing work, and it’s a joy to have a group of people like that. I have been very lucky to have Rebecca in my life, almost unspeakably so, and it’s wonderful to meet with talented friends every Monday and talk about art. It’s necessary.