Hometown: Indianapolis IN (born) live in: Nevada City, CA
Education: 1 yr college - UC Davis
Why theater?: I had a story I wanted to tell, and I had to go on stage to do it, and even to work on it, to develop it, I had to go on stage. it was somewhat of a surprise that I really enjoyed it. this is my first experience with theater or being on stage.
Tell us about An Intimate Evening with Death, Herself?: It started at The Dreamaway Lodge in Becket MA in 2005 or 2006 as Death As A Salesman. I was terrified. I had two martinis before the show. I had notes and text written on cash register tape, and mounted on a spindle on stage, so I could refer to it if I got lost.
What inspired you to write An Intimate Evening with Death, Herself?: I had a piece of artwork with the original title Death As A Salesman - and I thought "something about that title" and I had to write something with it. I was inspired by almost dying from a brain infection in 1998 - it changed something in me and I couldn't help but do art, in whatever mode at all. painting, writing, etc. It was as if I had been given a second chance, beginning when I was almost 45 years old. This show is not about that event in any way. It's just that I learned that I didn't need to fear death, and wanted to write something working with that insight.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Eddie Izzard. Lily Tomlin. Spaulding Grey. Van Gogh, El Greco, Mel Brooks, Philip K Dick, William S Burroughs. The need to communicate something in whatever particular way - only way - it is possible to communicate it. That is, I can't say what that is that I want to communicate is, because it can only be said in the way it's said in a particular form, eg painting, storytelling, joke.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Willem Dafoe, David Lynch, Puddles the Pity Clown (fantastic voice, and I'd like to get him to smile)
What show have you recommended to your friends?:"Deadwood"
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Chloe Sevigny - "The Moment of Death"
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?:Stormy Weather
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Being Alone
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Writing more books, running a little teahouse somewhere in Montana
What’s up next?: A sequel to An Intimate Evening with Death, Herself, another book, more videos in Words Fail Me series
For more on Douglass, visit http://douglasstruth.com. For more on An Intimate Evening with Death, Herself, visit http://deathherself.com.