F30 Countdown – Jessica Moss

Eight more days on the countdown means we have eight more playwrights to meet! For today’s post we’re going to meet OOB finalist Jessica Moss.

Jessica Moss is an actor, playwright, and producer from Toronto. She is the creator/performer of solo shows Modern Love (Next Stage Festival, Toronto), and Polly Polly (Toronto/Edmonton Fringe; Patron’s Pick, Best of Fringe, Ed Mirvish Award for Entrepreneurship). Her full-length plays include Next to Him (RBC Tarragon Emerging Playwrights Contest Shortlist, Second Prize in Herman Voaden National Playwriting Competition, Finalist for Tangent Theatre Tivoli’s NEWvember), I Will Miss You When You’re Gone, Cam Baby (Toronto Fringe New Play Contest Winner, 2016, Weissberger finalist, Leah Ryans FEWW finalist, Premiere stages finalist, O’Neill semi-finalist, 2017), Stand Up, We’ll Make it Together, Escape Room, and Anna Starring Anna. As an actor, Jessica has appeared with the National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Necessary Angel/LuminaTO Festival, SummerWorks, Sudbury Theatre Centre, Young People’s Theatre, and many times at the Toronto Fringe. Jessica currently lives in New York, and is a Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting fellow at Juilliard and a lyricist in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

 

When did you start writing plays? If you had a moment where you realized you wanted to write, what was it?

I have been really focused on writing for about eight years, but I’ve always gravitated towards it. 

How did you come to write your OOB play? Was there a particular inspiration behind its creation? How has it developed?

I wanted to write something that could be done with nothing and that played with the idea of theatrical space. 

What are 5 words that describe who you are as a playwright?

Anxious, anxious, anxious, anxious, anxious.

What/who are some of the major influences on your writing?

My friends. Old movies. Sitcoms. 

What’s one fact someone would never guess about you?

I’m a terrific dancer.

What are some of your favorite plays?

Jerusalem, by Jez Butterworth. Angels in America, by Tony Kushner. The Seafarer and Shining City, by Conor McPherson. The Clean House, by Sarah Ruhl. So many others……

Any new projects you’re working on or shameless plugs?

Nope, just writing and trudging along.

 

Her play Square Footage will be performed on August 8th at 8:30pm. Nate and Maggie love each other…right? So they should move in together…right? Was this apartment always that small? But Nate and Maggie still love each other….right?