Introducing the author of Destroying David - Jason Odell Williams!
First, Tell us a little about yourself!
I grew up in Columbia, Maryland, went to the University of Virginia where I was a Drama Major and then moved to New York City shortly after graduating in 1996. I thought acting was going to be my path. But I slowly found that what I loved most about acting were the words I got to say. And so I thought maybe I should try writing some of those words in a play myself. I was a bit surprised to find out how much I loved it! Even more than I enjoyed acting. So I never looked back. I’ve written over a dozen full-length plays since 2008, two have been produced Off-Broadway, 4 are published, and there have been over 100 productions of those various plays across the US and Canada. On the personal side, I’ve been married since 2001 to not only the love of my life, but my favorite artistic collaborator, Charlotte Cohn (a wildly talented actor, writer, director and producer). And we have a 19-year-old daughter, Imogen, who just started her first year in college. Naturally she’s studying to be an actor!
Read below for the whole conversation with Jason!
What inspired you to write Destroying David, and where did the story originate?
It was the summer of 2020, still the early days of Covid, and I was feeling – along with a lot of other people – a huge sense of loss, and grief and despair. On top of that, several scheduled productions of my plays had suddenly been canceled around the country and it felt like: when are people ever going to gather to see a play again? The idea of theatre felt so frivolous when people were dying and struggling just to survive. And I was thinking, why would I ever write another play, who’s going to see it, what’s the point of art at all?! On a totally unrelated track, two years earlier in 2018, I had read an article about how Michelangelo’s David was in danger of collapsing because of these tiny cracks inside the marble, specifically inside the ankles. And I still had that article on my desk. I had set it aside thinking it was interesting and maybe there was a story there to turn into a play down the line. So while I was feeling this incredible despair and having a sort of existential crisis about being a playwright, I looked at this article again about the 500 year old masterpiece that might be destroyed because of these cracks they can’t repair. And I thought… would that be so terrible? Maybe it wasn’t meant to last forever anyway. And who cares about art when the world is on fire? Or maybe… maybe we needed to do everything in our power to protect it and save it because art is not only beautiful, it’s vital. Art is what makes life worth living. And I sort of went back and forth like that in my head, arguing the pros and cons of David collapsing, and eventually that argument came out in a very short monologue that I wrote. I asked my wife, Charlotte, to read it out loud for me and tell me if there’s anything there. Is this even a play, what is this? She read it. And it remains one of my favorite memories, hearing her read it out loud that first time. It made me realize art is necessary and it helped bring me out of my despair. After she finished reading it she said, yes, there’s absolutely something here, keep exploring. The play went through many iterations over the next few months and years. It started as a short twenty-minute monologue, then it became a full-length two person play, then finally a little over 4 years later, the full-length solo play your audiences will see very soon!
How do you balance humor and emotional depth in a story like this?
I don’t think about it ahead of time, it’s not calculated, but everything I write has to have humor in it. That’s how I communicate in life. Even in the most serious, heavy situation, my mind is always thinking of the joke or counterpoint to what’s happening. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism. But that’s how I see the world. It’s not all comedy or tragedy. It’s one, then the other, or even both at the same time. That’s what I want as a viewer, too. I want to laugh, then cry, then laugh WHILE crying. And I think humor is a great way to hook people in and keep them engaged. So I just try to tell the story as naturally as possible and inevitably there are moments of irony, sarcasm, self-depreciation, wit, or flat out joke-jokes that will come up and I sprinkle those in throughout. And then of course, knowing when to edit those out if they end up distracting from the story or taking the audience out of reality. But I hope to always have a nice balance. I like all of my plays to feel like a complete meal… not just meat-and-potatoes or just veggies or just wine or just dessert. You need all of them to feel full and satisfied.
What message or feeling do you hope audiences take away from seeing Destroying David?
The short answer is, I don’t know. I never have a goal like that in mind while writing. And I don’t think you ever really learn what your play “is” until an audience sees it – and they tell you what it is. But ultimately I would love audiences to feel like they had a unique theatrical experience – one they’ll always remember.
Do you have a favorite scene or line in the play? If so, why does it stand out to you?
That’s like asking which child of yours do you love the most! Of course, I love all of it! But I guess without spoiling too much, I think the scene with Michelangelo is one of my favorites. He was really fun to write. And he definitely has some of the best lines, so I will say my favorite is when Michelangelo says, “Art is not commerce. Art is oxygen, is water. Is life!” That’s kind of the thesis of the show in a way. Art is life.
How does it feel knowing your work will have its regional premiere here at Circle Theatre?
It’s actually a WORLD premiere! And it’s very exciting. I’m so grateful to Ashley and everyone at Circle Theatre for taking a chance on this new work, which is not a typical play, but maybe that’s what attracted them to it. It’s a solo play (with some light interactivity and audience participation) about a 500 year old statue. It’s about grief and loss and hope and art and parenthood and life itself. So, I have no idea how it will land with people, but I’m excited to find out! And of course, the first time hearing it in front of a large group of people is always the best. That first reaction is always the most honest and illuminating. So I guess I’m feeling both scared and excited.
If you had describe Destroying David in three words, what would they be?
That’s a really hard thing to do… limit a playwright to just 3 words!! But I will go with:
Bold.
Cathartic.
Life-affirming.
(hopefully, that’s not cheating and life-affirming counts as one word!)
What do you hope audiences leave with?
I hope they learn something about the David and about the nature of art in general – why it’s important. I hope they think about the people they love the most and the limited time we all have together. And I hope they come away with a greater appreciation of life. That’s what theatre does best, right? It makes us stop and reflect on what it means to be human.
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