February 1, 2012 | by Manny Strauss    0 comments

Photo by Teresa Castracane

Juggling is probably not on Allyson Currin’s resume. But she acts. She directs. She teaches at George Washington University. She has written over twenty plays. She is a single mom of 14 year old twin daughters (her husband, Chris, passed away in 2005). When asked to identify something about her that others would find surprising, she responds, “I’m secretly lazy.” It’s hard to imagine what she could accomplish if she weren’t so lazy! Her newest play, Hercules in Russia, is receiving its world premiere at Doorway Arts Ensemble (performances beginning February 10, 2012).

tW: What was your path to acting, directing, and writing?

AC: Things came together organically and naturally. I started writing as soon as I could pick up a pencil. I would be writing in my own blood if it came down to that. I started acting when I was in 4th or 5th grade –- and that became my obsession along with old movies. I had no desire to write a play then. Fast forward to after college. I wanted more control, so I went to grad school and got my MFA in directing. My work with new plays made me understand that process was accessible. I didn’t think about it consciously but those two strands of my life –- theatre and writing, which were never, ever, ever connected until I was 27 years old, kind of came together then. My first play got picked up and produced and did well critically and with audiences. That opening night was the biggest light bulb moment in my entire life. All that work that existed in parallel came together. That’s why I worked so hard for so long on writing stuff that had nothing to do with plays because I unknowingly or subconsciously was making my life my workshop by writing, writing, writing –- writing my stupid novels, making terrible rookie mistakes in my writing. My other discipline was evolving separately. When they came together it was just kismet.

tW: What was the catalyst for your first play?

AC: I was living in Switzerland and had this catastrophic breakup with a boyfriend. I just started writing. Those initial impulses are all autobiographical. I was just trying to make myself feel better. Very quickly, the characters got their own voices and turned into a play. That was Dancing with Ourselves which was my first play ever produced in the Washington area.

tW: What inspired Hercules in Russia and how long have you worked on it?

AC: This is my Everest. I’ve worked on it for 16 years. I was reading Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massey and became obsessed with Russian history. There is one paragraph in the book about a character named Jim Hercules who was born in this country. The timing of it was such that he probably would have been born a slave. He ended up in the court of the Czar. I decided to write my Russian Revolution play because I was so fascinated with him and all these other characters [in the book]. My play started with 26 characters and was an unwieldy disaster. My father said, “It sounds like the guy you are interested in is Jim Hercules.” That was a light bulb moment.

I fell in love with the arc I ultimately came up with for Hercules. To be on opposing sides of revolution in two countries to me is amazing. What happens to people who aren’t the movers and shakers? What happens to the bystanders? There’s one eyewitness account of Jim Hercules, as St. Petersburg was coming apart at the seams, wandering around the city in his livery, completely lost and bereft. He was never seen again. These people vanish.

tW: Why did it take 16 years to develop?

AC: That was just what the play needed. Other plays –- a year and a half, two years, no problem. I had to be patient with it. I had to be patient with the research. I had to be patient with the material. I had to be patient with the stories that emerged.

tW: How do you balance it all?

AC: It’s really hard to be a single parent. I still get ticked off sometimes because it was absolutely not my choice or his, obviously. I feel bad for my kids because they were so gypped. I think I am a very good mother. I think I am doing a really great job. My kids are kind of remarkable. It’s relentless. My life is just non-stop.

I’ve had to turn down roles because of being a single parent. I was scheduled to play Paulina in The Winter’s Tale at Baltimore Shakes two years after my husband died. Then one of my daughters was sobbing in her room with my calendar because she had counted how many times I would have to drive up Route 95 and back. I called Kathleen Akerley (the director) and said, “Kathleen, I’ve never done this. I’ve never accepted a role and then said I can’t do it. But I have to.” Kathleen, a good friend, said, “I get it.”

tW: How else does the balancing impact your professional career?

AC: I know I’m really lucky because I’m a working playwright. Sometimes I wonder if all the other demands on my time disrupt my playwriting career as I try to move past the Washington area. I do well within this region. But I want to be in Chicago, Seattle, and New York. I want a national presence. I have been struggling with this for the last several years. Sometimes I think all the balls I’m juggling prevent me from focusing with laser-beam precision on that central issue.

tW: In addition to all the balls you juggle, what else do you think could be limiting your ability to be heard in other regions?

AC: I don’t think I have a definitive voice. I’m hard to pigeon-hole as a writer. I write comedy. I write drama. I write historical. I write contemporary. I write urban. I write country. I write magical realism. I write kitchen sink. I write memory plays. I write science fiction. I write whatever I feel like. It’s difficult for marketing professionals and artistic directors to know who I am as a writer with such a diverse range of subject matters and styles. I wouldn’t trade it because it’s what I do. In our area, the lack of a single voice is considered a boon; it’s an attribute. The Washington area is a flashpoint for new play activity. How do area playwrights communicate that to the rest of the country? We don’t have advocates. We don’t have a central clearinghouse. We don’t have a lot of people outside the region who have a slogan for us. I’m wrestling with that because, to me, the versatility and diversity is what people should want.

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