The Edge of the Water
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Jen
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SYNOPSIS
Three girls pass a few hours by the lake. It’s getting darker. They haven’t seen each other in a long while, but they’re still best friends. Nothing has changed at all.
PLAYWRIGHT’S BIO
Jen Diamond is a Brooklyn-based playwright, screenwriter, and very chill girl. She writes spooky, funny plays about friendship, girlhood, and the performance of self. Jen is a current Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. She has been a Finalist for the National Playwrights Conference, the Circle in the Square Emerging Writers Residency, SPACE on Ryder Farm’s Come to the Table Residency, City Theatre National Award, and The Bechdel Project’s ROO Residency. She was a Semi-Finalist for the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator. When she’s not writing for the theatre, she makes up one-half of the indie-comedy duo OLGA. In 2021, OLGA’s original comedy pilot, A Whole Production, was the winner of the Austin Film Festival’s Warner Bros. Entertainment Pilot Award. Jen holds a B.A. in Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University and a MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College.
A BIT ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
When did you start writing plays? If you had a moment where you realized you wanted to write, what was it?
Growing up, my grandfather would tell me these incredible bedtime stories that spanned YEARS. He and my grandmother introduced me to so much art (theatre! music! museums!) at an early age, and I credit them with putting me on the path towards playwriting. I studied fiction and poetry writing in college and wrote my first piece for the stage when my professor invited me to expand something I’d written for class into a full-length play. Turns out? I really loved doing that!
How did you come to write your OOB play? Was there a particular inspiration behind its creation? How has it developed?
I started this play as an exercise in grad school. We were each asked to eavesdrop on a public conversation and use that as a basis for a short scene. (I am naturally very nosy, so I thrived in this environment.) I ended up missing my subway stop listening to two girls talk about an old friend from college with equal parts love / judgement / and confusion. They made me think of my own relationships, the complexity of close female friendships, and the ways the Self changes as we age. I wrote down as much as I could about their conversation, then wrote the first iteration of this scene.
What are five words that describe who you are as a playwright?
Spooky, silly, girl, soupy, mystical.
What/who are some of the major influences on your writing?
So many! I’m inspired by writers and artists of all kinds who write about the strangeness of life with a balance of lyricism, mysticism, and humor. Some that come to mind are playwrights Jen Silverman and Annie Baker; poets Zachary Schomburg and Steve Scafidi; and fiction writers Carmen Maria Machado, Miriam Toews, and George Saunders. I am also deeply inspired by visual artists like Hilma af Klint and Justine Kurland.
What’s one fact someone would never guess about you?
When I had my wisdom teeth removed the dentist found a few extra, bonus teeth hiding in my gums. Much like a shark >:)
What are some of your favorite plays?
Oh, so many. But here are a few: Our Town by Thornton Wilder. John by Annie Baker. An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Belleville by Amy Herzog. Go Back to Where You Are by David Greenspan. Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn. Dance Nation by Clare Barron. I could go on!
Any new projects you’re working on or shameless plugs?
Not a play, but I’m working on a super-silly true crime parody podcast with my comedy-writing partner, Pam Hugi. It’s called THE MYSTERY GIRLS and you can learn more about it here: www.mysterygirlspodcast.com
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