Your play, S/He, deals with the unique subject of gender and identity confusion. Could you tell us a little bit more about the play and where you got the idea for it?
S/He charts the journey of Sam, an African-American anatomical female who needs to be a man to feel complete. The journey unfolds through episodes linked through fluid transitions, one scene bleeding into the next so that time and space and the audience transition with Sam as the play progresses. At the beginning of the play, Sam is about nine years old in a playground, in the following scene s/he is 17 working a part-time job at a bakery, then s/he goes home to talk to Mom. The transition from the first scene to subsequent scenes takes place immediately, non-stop. The first scene moves straight into the second, the second into the third, and so forth. This is meant to underscore the theme of the play: that this character transitions with us as we watch the play unfold, as is the case in life with natural transitions. The idea just came to me.
In the premiere of S/He at last summer's Fresh Fruit Festival, you and director José Zayas decided to have three actresses play both the male and female roles. How did you two come to that decision, and what point was it intended to make, if any?
I made that decision alone when I presented the script to José Zayas to read. I wanted to showcase the virtuosity of our extremely gifted actresses, for one. Also, I thought "Don't we all want or think about being men if we're not, or women when we're not, or transsexuals, doctors, mothers, husbands, wives throughout our lives? If these are roles, let everyone have a shot at playing them." Because they can be roles in life, the roles we play to put food on the table or feel super-sexy or to indicate something to ourselves and society or that society places on us as constructs to give meaning to a social order that doesn't naturally or normally have meaning, certainly not through a fixed script. The permutations and levels are exhausting in that respect, what roles to play or not and the consequences for not playing well with others with respect to these roles. Certainly Sam suffers for it and celebrates because of it. What José suggested and became a brilliant addition, as were all his suggestions, was to reinforce that idea of fusion in other areas of the play. I was hesitant but not skeptical of the suggestion but he was great in that he reassured me that it would work and, more importantly, needed to be done to best serve the play.
You are currently a member of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group. What has that experience been like so far, and how did you get involved?
I got involved by applying to their program which I encourage writers to do by going to the Public Theater's website. It is absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend it to any and everyone.
You originally started your writing career as a novelist. Why the transition to playwriting?
My novels sucked, simply. I made two serious attempts, countless mini-ventures and continue to do so but I can't seem to enter into the extended monologue or virtuosic soliloquy needed to write a big book. Plus, most novels showcase what I stupidly believe economy serves best but is stylistically shunned upon in novelistic circles where a form of (literary) indulgence goes rewarded. I have a book of short stories coming out soon so maybe there is hope; maybe not. Playwriting came by accident one day, through frustration and rage.
Do you have any particular influences or inspirations as a writer?
There are sounds, colors, people, non-people and movements that inspire.
You've got a pretty heavy political background: you minored in political science in college, you worked for Reuters News Agency for several years, and you currently work for the U.S. government. What spurred this call to public service?
Public service is much nobler on paper than in application. What do I really, truly do as a government servant? Well, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, read novels in a backroom after shifting through all the dailies, skip the front-page murders and frauds since I'm suffering from a throbbing migraine from late drinking which makes me too lazy to go across the street to get an aspirin before the mail comes. This is how I currently serve my fellow Americans in government. Reuters in Africa was different because they needed someone to deliver important documents during civil wars and I was too stupid to care if I got blown up given all the excitement. They'd say, "Send Nick" and my heart would roar with joy because I got to see death up close, never mind the impending danger to my own life. Political science is the study of survival, a lifelong passion. Politics, society, and theatre share that nexus, the Art of Life dramatized.
What projects can we expect next from you?
I have a reading at the Public Theater on February 11th and 12th at 7pm for the Emerging Writers' Group Salon Series where S/He will be performed along with work from my very talented colleagues. I have a book of short stories coming to a theatre near you. I should have a play set in a barber shop coming up soon and maybe another play, Waafrika, recently rewritten as a trilogy, performed. I am also looking for a producer and director for the movie version of Waafrika since I have already written the screenplay. I hope to rewrite the second act of S/He as well. Other projects are being discussed.
Interview with Nanna Nick Mwaluko was conducted by Michael Criscuolo January 2009.