a conversation with playwright Larissa Brewington whose play SHADES OF GRAY opens this week at Now & Then Creative Company

Larissa Brewington

by Gil Benbrook

Every theatre season in Phoenix, playwright Larissa Brewington seems to constantly churn out new works.

In addition to having her play Young at Heart in the upcoming Herberger Festival of the Arts in October, one of her latest pieces, Shades of Gray, opens this Friday at Now and Then Creative Company.

The prolific Brewington took a few moments in between final rehearsals for Shades of Gray
to answer some questions about the play, and how she became a playwright.

How would you describe the plot of Shades of Gray?

"I would say Shades of Gray is what most relationships between multiple siblings would be like, if they were able to sit back and watch themselves from the outside."

I know this piece had a prior reading at Phoenix Theatre as part of the Bridge Initiative, but what was your inspiration for writing the play and when did you start working on it?

"I was an only child. I came up with the idea to write the show many years ago, hanging out with a friend and her sister. My friend’s sister was getting married and the soon to be married sister said, 'I want the kind of marriage, like my parents had…with the white picket fence.' My friend turned to her and said, 'What are you talking about? That’s not the way it was!' Well they got into it a bit, because they completely disagreed with how they were raised! It made me wonder if this is how many siblings who grow up in families with more than one child believed their home life to be. After talking to a few people, I grew to understand that people who are raised in families with more than one child have separate and unique childhoods, growing up in the same family."

Were there any scenes in the piece that you found difficult to write, or any scenes that you continually found yourself rewriting when you were working on the play?

"Oddly enough, I don’t remember having a hard time writing this piece! I don’t have siblings, but once the piece came to light, I just wrote what I thought to be true from what little I knew. Of course there have been edits over the years, because that’s what development means… growing a piece and editing.

There’s a moment in the show where a board game is being played, and there’s a lot of silliness in that moment. I remember that scene being one of the first I wrote. Listening to it during rehearsals has made me giggle repeatedly! It does remind me of the few times I spent with my cousins. I’m the eldest cousin of the generation after my mother, and spent a lot of time with my three cousins born to my aunt who came after my mother. My 3 closest cousins were all siblings and for a while, I was one of the pack."

Sasha Wordlaw, Nadine Jackson, Iris Huey in Shades of Gray at Now & Then Creative Company
photo courtesy Larissa Brewington

At the center of the play is a trio of sisters who find that the death of their parents provides them an opportunity to reconnect after many years. Was there anything personal from your relationships with family, relatives or close friends that you brought to the piece?

"I used to watch soap operas with my grandmother at an early age. As soon as I began writing, probably around the age of 7, I immersed myself in family dramas. (I started off as a novelist.) I not only watched intensely, but studied soap operas. Most of what I write today is about interpersonal relationships.

I would think that every writer gleans elements of their life and inserts them into their writing. It’s not often that I recognize this in my work, but I’m certain that if my family would watch a piece they’d pick out moments I subconsciously missed."

It seems to me that you are one of the most prolific playwrights in town. Not only do you have this play opening this week but you are a regular contributor to the Herberger Lunch Time Theatre series, you're producing a piece at the Herberger Festival of the Arts this Fall, which you've contributed to in the past. How did you get started in writing plays?

"I started off as an actor.

When I was near the middle of my first professional acting contract, my acting co-star said, 'I think we need to do more, promote ourselves for the shows after this one.' She was a real professional actor, who’d gone to school. I was a local actor who’d done a bunch of community theatre and auditioned for shows in NY.

Our contract stated that we were to tour the children’s show (Out of The Net), and to do one of the main stage shows (Chaucer’s Tales). She wanted more. So she got permission from the theatre for us to 'show case' ourselves. She told me that I would write a show and she would write a show and we’d invite our friends and producers or managers or whomever. This would allow us to show that we had more to offer other than being just two actors who were contracted for a year and moving on. I remember asking her, 'Why would I do that? Write a show….? Who does that??' Well, I did, because he made me.

She changed my life.

After the show, she told me, 'Well, now you know, you can’t just do stuff for free after this. You have a show and now you should tour it.'

And the rest is…history."

In addition to writing, you're an actress, producer and director as well.  You wear a lot of theatrical hats - is playwrighting the one role you find most rewarding, and if it is why is it?

"I was always so embarrassed when people would ask me this question! I think it’s because I started off as an actor and I felt it was a betrayal to admit that playwrighting means more…but it does. Writing means more to me than anything I’ve known. Communication is so important on so many levels. I’ve seen the effect of my work on others. They come to me and cry or want to hug me or they get angry… This can happen with acting, but with writing, people now have a way to ‘check’ your work. Writing history for the stage has shown me that people will watch what is given to them, then they will go off and look it up. If you’re accurate they will become more invested in what you showed them. I have people who return to my shows, because they have learned things they never expected and they are moved or changed by these things. This is why I’m here."

What do you hope audiences will take away from seeing Shades of Gray?

"My cast is African American, but the themes and story are things that families deal with across the board universally. I want people to laugh at and be moved by Shades, but I also want them to recognize that they aren’t alone. Shades is hilarious in moments, but it’s also really heavy when it comes to material surrounding family secrets. There are themes that some families tend to avoid dealing with. I want people to walk away feeling entertained but that they can now talk about things they may not have wanted to talk about before."

CLICK HERE for more information on Shades of Gray at Now & Then Creative Company, which run August 17th through August 26th