the spirit of playwrights past and present
bounces through the Signature walls.
It’s moving to be part of that tradition.
S: The characters in the play all have different visions for
their community and how it can be improved. Where does
this interest in community activism come from?
QAH: It’s a legacy I inherited. My mother worked for the American Friends Service Community, which is the service arm of
the Quakers in Philadelphia. As a Latina woman working there,
she was an ambassador to non-Quaker communities where
service work was needed. She also co-founded a women’s
resource center in North Philly called Casa Comadre. My aunt
helped create a program where community members could
buy abandoned lots from the city for one dollar and turn them
into community gardens.
S: Why did you want Thomas Kail to direct Daphne’s Dive?
QAH: Tommy and I were young artists at the start of our paths,
and we made In the Heights together. It was time to get back
in the room, and this time with a play – a new and different
challenge. I’ve seen a lot of his work now and one of my favorite components of it is how fully the actors come alive. This
being a bar, where lots of stories are told and lots of life convenes, I wanted that fullness of humanity in the performances.
Tommy enables actors in a profound, rich way.
S: You’ve spoken elsewhere about your passion for teaching.
What do you try to impart to your students?
QAH: That art is not indulgent or soft, but rigorous and
explosive. The value of self-critique. The components of
language – meter, rhyme, grammar, punctuation – and how
they build a dramatic world. The tug-of-war between art and
technique, between relaxation and control. The importance
of generosity and self-humiliation. Those are a few of the
things on my syllabus. n
(opposite page, clockwise from top left)
Armando Riesco in Page 73’s production of
Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, 2006; Lauren Vélez and
Tony Plana in Second Stage Theatre’s production
of The Happiest Song Plays Last, 2014; Armando
Riesco and Annapurna Sriram in Second Stage
Theatre’s production of The Happiest Song Plays Last,
2014; Socorro Santiago and Bethany Anne Lind in
Alliance Theatre’s production of 26 Miles, 2009.
(right) Bill Heck and Liza Colón-Zayas in
Second Stage Theatre’s production of
Water by the Spoonful, 2013.
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