Halloween is just around the corner as is another edition of Rule of 7x7: All Hallow's Eve-dition. Before you head to The Tank, check out the writers for this month's edition!
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Name: Jon Caren
Hometown: Los Angeles
Education: Vassar, Julliard
What is your rule?: A whisper on page 4.
Why did you pick your rule?: Because I hate when people talk loudly.
Tell us about BUSHWHACK SHARE, PRIVATE ROOM:Bushwhack Share, Private Room is a play about a guy who AirBNB’s his apartment to a couple from Sweden and we all know what happens when you AirBNB your apartment, right?
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Sex and violence.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because you will leave feeling smarter, more cultured, and a humanitarian.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: The same as last year because I never wore it. Movie theater employee. Stand near me if you like popcorn.
For more on Jon, visit www.jonathancaren.com
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Name: Dylan Dawson
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Education: NYU Tisch School of the Arts
What is your rule?: A bathroom item is used as a weapon.
Why did you pick your rule?: I'm hoping someone gets creative with a plunger.
Tell us about HAUNTED PORNO: Theater is sacred. It can illuminate certain truths about what it means to be human and lift the curtain on those secret places where dreams are made. And that is why I wrote "Haunted Porno."
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: In my case, a boner.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because theater is sacred, etc, etc, boners.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I have an Italian Stallion boxing robe and a Mr. T doll, so probably "Rocky 3." Again.
For more on Dylan, visit www.dylanjdawson.com
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Name: Brett Epstein
Hometown: Hamden, CT
Education: Providence College
What is your rule?: Someone is very, very, very scared on the last page.
Why did you pick your rule?: HALLOWEEN!!!!!
Tell us about I CAN FEEL YOU BREATHE: The title is based on that classic Faith Hill ballad. That's all I can legally say at this point in time.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: People dressed up, hanging out on the stage, a spooky drink (that we're still devising), rules. What you won't see is scripts. Because it's an #Off-Book affair.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It would mean a lot to ME.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: An NYC playwright. Just kidding. What if I was serious about that.
For more on Brett, visit www.itsbrett.net
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Name: Ken Greller
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Education: NYU
What is your rule?: Real estate.
Why did you pick your rule?: I read Curbed and still get StreetEasy alerts even though I moved in July and never want to move again. I'm a sick individual.
Tell us about PIT CITY: It's about Baltimore, where I'm from, and - going off of my own rule (because theatre is about community but it's also about ME) these strange spaces in often marginalized parts of the city where (largely white) kids would gather for music shows. I don't really know anything about music, and I never have, but the Baltimore music scene is pretty substantial. Most of the members of Animal Collective and Yeasayer went to my high school, and I think I saw Beach House in a basement with a trashcan filled with beer before they were famous. My best friend for a while in high school was part of a "noise band," so my dad would begrudgingly drive me to these shows, and I never really understood a lot of it.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: I am honestly so bad at writing ten minute plays, and especially bad at writing "challenges" and things like that, but I think this set of rules is so enticing and funny and weird that I'd have to imagine you're going to see seven really fun, really different plays that don't feel like a bunch of "exercises."
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: You get to sample the work of seven playwrights and seven directors and god knows how many actors! It's like drinking a green juice but for theatrical consumption. Or getting an appetizer platter. Those are two different metaphors, it just sort of depends what you want to get out of it.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I'm going as a "Verified" (someone whose existence is deemed, well, verifiable, by Twitter).
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Name: Monet Hurst-Mendoza
Hometown: Pasadena, CA
Education: B.A. Theatre Arts, Marymount Manhattan College
What is your rule?: Someone recounts a childhood trauma that deeply affects them to this day
Why did you pick your rule?: I'm fascinated by how traumatic events shape humanity.
Tell us about STOCKHOLM SYNDROME: A LOVE STORY: The title comes from an actual One Direction song. It's kind of nutty that someone had an idea for this song with that title in mind, and then wrote corresponding lyrics for tweens (and girls like me who grew up on boy bands) to listen to. Also, I've always wanted to write a play about a secret society devoted to boy bands. The Skull & Bows is actually what my old roommates and I used to call the last apartment we all lived in together. We never sacrificed boy bands members, but I do recall being inebriated on several occasions and forcing them to learn N'SYNC choreography from me.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Witchcraft, Boyband hysteria, synchronized dance moves.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because everyone who is working on 7x7 is magic. And everyone needs magic in their lives.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I don't normally dress up for Halloween anymore. Call me lame, but I'd much rather be at home watching scary movies instead. But I do have Halloween pajamas - so maybe I'll just wear those and some kind of animal ears!
For more on Monet, visit http://risingcircle.org
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Name: Sylvia Khoury
Hometown: Purchase, NY
Education: BA, Columbia University; MFA, New School for Drama; Currently: Medical School at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
What is your rule?: Someone has to say "I would turn back if I were you."
Why did you pick your rule?: It's nice and creepy for Halloweentime.
Tell us about NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: I was always scared of the Egyptian Wing at the Met growing up. This play grew out of that!
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Proof that Brett Epstein should host the Oscars.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It's really, really exciting when you recognize a rule.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I haven't committed to anything yet, but Bellatrix Lestrange is my forever backup.
For more on Sylivia, visit www.sylviakhoury.com
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Name: Gianmarco Soresi
Hometown: Potomac, MD but I tell people DC to sound cool.
Education: Worthless.
What is your rule?: Faith.
Why did you pick your rule?: As adverse as I am to astrology, The Secret, and Pope visits, I unfortunately have my own faith(s), which I'd define as beliefs sans evidence, that if I ever was forced to articulate would probably sound equally ridiculous. I imagine we all have such beliefs, some more fleeting than others, only be verbalized by the extremest of circumstances or several strong beers. I hope my rule conjures the former in these plays and inspires the latter once they're done.
Tell us about ORIGINAL RITUAL: You never forget your first.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Given the impending holiday and Brett's rule ("someone is very, very, very scared on the last page"), some really fucked up shit.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because everything Kristin McCarthy Parker touches turns to gold.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: Young Jeff Goldblum (Lies. Once as a child I went trick-or-treating dressed as a hippie. The resident at one home said to me, "Why hello there, are you supposed to be a boy?" I don't do costumes anymore.)
For more on Gianmarco, visit www.GianmarcoSoresi.com
The Rulers
Hometown: Los Angeles
Education: Vassar, Julliard
What is your rule?: A whisper on page 4.
Why did you pick your rule?: Because I hate when people talk loudly.
Tell us about BUSHWHACK SHARE, PRIVATE ROOM:Bushwhack Share, Private Room is a play about a guy who AirBNB’s his apartment to a couple from Sweden and we all know what happens when you AirBNB your apartment, right?
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Sex and violence.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because you will leave feeling smarter, more cultured, and a humanitarian.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: The same as last year because I never wore it. Movie theater employee. Stand near me if you like popcorn.
For more on Jon, visit www.jonathancaren.com
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Education: NYU Tisch School of the Arts
What is your rule?: A bathroom item is used as a weapon.
Why did you pick your rule?: I'm hoping someone gets creative with a plunger.
Tell us about HAUNTED PORNO: Theater is sacred. It can illuminate certain truths about what it means to be human and lift the curtain on those secret places where dreams are made. And that is why I wrote "Haunted Porno."
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: In my case, a boner.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because theater is sacred, etc, etc, boners.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I have an Italian Stallion boxing robe and a Mr. T doll, so probably "Rocky 3." Again.
For more on Dylan, visit www.dylanjdawson.com
Hometown: Hamden, CT
Education: Providence College
What is your rule?: Someone is very, very, very scared on the last page.
Why did you pick your rule?: HALLOWEEN!!!!!
Tell us about I CAN FEEL YOU BREATHE: The title is based on that classic Faith Hill ballad. That's all I can legally say at this point in time.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: People dressed up, hanging out on the stage, a spooky drink (that we're still devising), rules. What you won't see is scripts. Because it's an #Off-Book affair.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It would mean a lot to ME.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: An NYC playwright. Just kidding. What if I was serious about that.
For more on Brett, visit www.itsbrett.net
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Education: NYU
What is your rule?: Real estate.
Why did you pick your rule?: I read Curbed and still get StreetEasy alerts even though I moved in July and never want to move again. I'm a sick individual.
Tell us about PIT CITY: It's about Baltimore, where I'm from, and - going off of my own rule (because theatre is about community but it's also about ME) these strange spaces in often marginalized parts of the city where (largely white) kids would gather for music shows. I don't really know anything about music, and I never have, but the Baltimore music scene is pretty substantial. Most of the members of Animal Collective and Yeasayer went to my high school, and I think I saw Beach House in a basement with a trashcan filled with beer before they were famous. My best friend for a while in high school was part of a "noise band," so my dad would begrudgingly drive me to these shows, and I never really understood a lot of it.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: I am honestly so bad at writing ten minute plays, and especially bad at writing "challenges" and things like that, but I think this set of rules is so enticing and funny and weird that I'd have to imagine you're going to see seven really fun, really different plays that don't feel like a bunch of "exercises."
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: You get to sample the work of seven playwrights and seven directors and god knows how many actors! It's like drinking a green juice but for theatrical consumption. Or getting an appetizer platter. Those are two different metaphors, it just sort of depends what you want to get out of it.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I'm going as a "Verified" (someone whose existence is deemed, well, verifiable, by Twitter).
Hometown: Pasadena, CA
Education: B.A. Theatre Arts, Marymount Manhattan College
What is your rule?: Someone recounts a childhood trauma that deeply affects them to this day
Why did you pick your rule?: I'm fascinated by how traumatic events shape humanity.
Tell us about STOCKHOLM SYNDROME: A LOVE STORY: The title comes from an actual One Direction song. It's kind of nutty that someone had an idea for this song with that title in mind, and then wrote corresponding lyrics for tweens (and girls like me who grew up on boy bands) to listen to. Also, I've always wanted to write a play about a secret society devoted to boy bands. The Skull & Bows is actually what my old roommates and I used to call the last apartment we all lived in together. We never sacrificed boy bands members, but I do recall being inebriated on several occasions and forcing them to learn N'SYNC choreography from me.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Witchcraft, Boyband hysteria, synchronized dance moves.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because everyone who is working on 7x7 is magic. And everyone needs magic in their lives.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I don't normally dress up for Halloween anymore. Call me lame, but I'd much rather be at home watching scary movies instead. But I do have Halloween pajamas - so maybe I'll just wear those and some kind of animal ears!
For more on Monet, visit http://risingcircle.org
Hometown: Purchase, NY
Education: BA, Columbia University; MFA, New School for Drama; Currently: Medical School at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
What is your rule?: Someone has to say "I would turn back if I were you."
Why did you pick your rule?: It's nice and creepy for Halloweentime.
Tell us about NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: I was always scared of the Egyptian Wing at the Met growing up. This play grew out of that!
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Proof that Brett Epstein should host the Oscars.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It's really, really exciting when you recognize a rule.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: I haven't committed to anything yet, but Bellatrix Lestrange is my forever backup.
For more on Sylivia, visit www.sylviakhoury.com
Hometown: Potomac, MD but I tell people DC to sound cool.
Education: Worthless.
What is your rule?: Faith.
Why did you pick your rule?: As adverse as I am to astrology, The Secret, and Pope visits, I unfortunately have my own faith(s), which I'd define as beliefs sans evidence, that if I ever was forced to articulate would probably sound equally ridiculous. I imagine we all have such beliefs, some more fleeting than others, only be verbalized by the extremest of circumstances or several strong beers. I hope my rule conjures the former in these plays and inspires the latter once they're done.
Tell us about ORIGINAL RITUAL: You never forget your first.
What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Given the impending holiday and Brett's rule ("someone is very, very, very scared on the last page"), some really fucked up shit.
Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because everything Kristin McCarthy Parker touches turns to gold.
What is your Halloween costume this year?: Young Jeff Goldblum (Lies. Once as a child I went trick-or-treating dressed as a hippie. The resident at one home said to me, "Why hello there, are you supposed to be a boy?" I don't do costumes anymore.)
For more on Gianmarco, visit www.GianmarcoSoresi.com