UNM theater major and senior Shannon Flynn wonders if he's found his true calling in playwriting, and he said he might stay extra years to study it.
He'll showcase his two plays, "The Burglar" and "Slice," at Full Frontal Poetry this fall and at Words Afire in the spring.
Sometimes he just wants to play with race cars.
Shannon Flynn: Sometimes, as an actor, I feel like I want to change a word. And as a playwright I can do that.
Daily Lobo: What if an actor changes your words?
SF: Well, now, I'll sue them.
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DL: You can do that?
SF: Most playwrights wouldn't go to that extent over one word, but you're supposed to honor the playwright's words verbatim. You don't have to honor the stage directions, though. If it says, "She dies on stage," you don't really have to do that.
DL: What do you think makes a good script?
SF: Whenever I sit down to try to write something, it's never that great. But if I have inspiration that comes at 3 a.m. or something, that's when it really takes off. I just take it where it goes and add things in later. I think a good idea is really what carries it.
DL: What's an idea you've had that's good?
SF: The play I have in Full Frontal Poetry - it's a slice of life, but it's like a slice of an entire life. There's a character that's a boy, one that's a teenager, a young man and an old man, and they're all on stage at the same time. As the character grows up, instead of growing up into a teenager, the boy just stays on stage, and the teenager comes onstage, too. (I want to write) something that people walk away from not just feeling entertained by but feeling like they've learned something.
DL: Are you more attracted to comedic or dramatic roles?
SF: I've been cast in dramatic roles lately, but I tried out for them, so I guess that's why I got them, but I gear toward comedy. I like comedy because through comedy, you can really have the best drama. Because life is funny to me - I'm always laughing. A play where no one's laughing seems unreal to me. In awkward situations, people crack jokes. They try to pretend that it's not awkward. I tried to do a tragicomedy, I guess. The play I have going up next semester in Words Afire is a tragicomedy.
DL: And you were in "Betty's Summer Vacation," right?
SF: I played Buck. He's a surfer dude, beach bum who has to have sex every 20 minutes or so. That was a little different.
DL: So did your parents see that play?
SF: No, I did not invite them.
DL: That would have been awkward.
SF: A lot of the cast invited their parents, and it was awkward. Some of the theater we do over in Theatre X is definitely experimental, but it's not always family appropriate.
