contributed by Charles Haugland:
I recently interviewed playwright Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro to write a note for the program of her upcoming show, BEFORE I LEAVE YOU. Parts of the interview were excerpted, so we are offering the whole, uncut interview here on the blog. Enjoy!
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| Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro |
Charles Haugland: What was your first play about? Why did you write it?
Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro: My first play was Behind Enemy Lines about the Japanese American internment camps. It was an angry political play that followed the Toda family from the horse stalls in the assembly center to the tarpaper barracks in the camps and the segregation center.
CH: Tell me two big turning points in your career?
RA: Before Behind Enemy Lines (which I wrote in my late 30’s) I had published many short stories and a handful of poems. I was enchanted when stage characters became flesh and blood. I was utterly fascinated by the interaction of director, actors, and audience. It was a case of love at first sight, and I never wrote another short story.
The other big turning point in my career was this year when at 72 I became a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, received a MCC Artist Fellowship, and was given a slot in the 2011-2012 Huntington Theatre Season. My son Pablo said, “It sounds like the beginning of a brilliant career.”
