Interview - Dan LeFranc

July 23, 2007

PDF of the full interview here.

A recent graduate of the acclaimed MFA program at Brown University, LeFranc is now in residence at Brown as the 2007-2008 John C. Russell Fellow in Playwriting.

On what is unique about theater:

"I believe that in the theater we have the ability to engage all the senses while simultaneously engrossing the audience with narrative, ideas, and empathy.

Unfortunately, I feel like most theater’s lost touch with what exactly makes theater theater. We’ve become obsessed with tantalizing the eyes and ears, while the rest of the senses seem to be forgotten.

In my dream world, all the proscenium arches and black boxes would be torn up and replaced with environmental spaces. The truest theatrical experience, in my opinion, is one where the actor/audience relationship is more porous.

As our culture becomes more obsessed with digital media and entertainment, it seems imperative that the theater look back at its roots and embrace the elements that made it an integral part of culture and community in the first place. Most of the time, however, we’re all stuck chasing after what the film, television, and music world already does better."