15 Jul OOB Final 30 Countdown – Carey Crim
Today marks day nine of our Final 30 countdown, so say hello to Carey Crim!
Carey’s play Conviction premiered to critical acclaim at Bay Street Theatre starring Sarah Paulson, Garret Dillahunt and Elizabeth Reaser, directed by Scott Schwartz. It then opened at The Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, California where it was nominated for an Ovation award for best new play. Her earlier works, Growing Pretty, Wake and Some Couples May… all received world premieres at The Purple Rose Theatre Company founded by Jeff Daniels. Wake received a West Coast Premiere at the SeaGlass Theatre in Los Angeles where it was a critic’s pick. Carey has recently adapted it for the screen and it will begin filming later this year. Her newest comedy, Morning After Grace, will open at the Purple Rose this September starring Randolph Mantooth. 23.5 Hours will open at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (Warehouse) in November. Carey is a graduate of Northwestern University.
1. When did you start writing plays? If you had a moment where you realized you wanted to write, what was it?
I was never a Barbie girl, but I had oodles of stuffed animals and I wrote dialogue for them daily. Once that phase passed ( I believe it was last year sometime) I moved on to other characters. But I’ve always written. Journals, survival jobs, etc. I began writing my own audition monologues (I was an actress first). I started getting better feedback on the monologues themselves than the auditions! One director encouraged me to write a whole play around one of my audition pieces. I did. The result was Growing Pretty which was produced by the Purple Rose Theater.
2. How did you come to write your OOB play? Was there a particular inspiration behind its creation? How has it developed?
A story I read about the high suicide rate of recent U.S. veterans.
3. What are 5 words that describe who you are as a playwright?
Leap, Family, Love, Oops, Why.
4. What/who are some of the major influences on your writing?
My family ( I come from a family of journalists and writers). If you go far enough back, you’ll find the Brothers Grimm. And my brother, Al, is one of the best writers I know. Some important teachers in my life: Mrs. Buterakas (Second Grade) Mrs. Angel, (Sixth grade), Sally Reynolds (My first theater teacher) David Downs (acting teacher, Northwestern)
Also, and in no particular order: Chekhov and Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Marsha Norman, David Lindsay-Abaire. Steven Dietz, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Jon Robin Baitz, Nora Ephron, JD Salinger, Milan Kundera, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, The Bronte sisters…
5. What’s one fact someone would never guess about you?
I make great spinach… according to my five year old. Which is something because she’s five and… well… spinach.
6. What are some of your favorite plays?
There are so many but I’ll just name a few that I have a personal connection to. Arcadia, All My Sons, Rabbit Hole, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, Book of Days, Circle Mirror Transformation, Three Sisters, Angels in America, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Ghosts, The Crucible, The Little Princess (The first play I was ever in that started this wonderful journey.)
7. Any new projects you’re working on or shameless plugs?
My play 23.5 Hours will open at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (Warehouse) in November. Morning after Grace opens at The Purple Rose Theatre in September.
Her play Room 313 will be performed on August 12th at 6:30pm. It follows a young housekeeper who makes a shocking discovery when she knocks on the door to clean Room 313 at a cheap roadside motel near the New York- Canadian border. She meets a distressed soldier who, one way or another, doesn’t want to return to duty. Their subsequent interaction will change them both forevr