Talking With... Vincent Delaney

Playwright of THE WAR PARTY

Conducted by Rebecca Wright, InterAct's Literary Director
                                                  and Production Director of THE WAR PARTY

                      & Josh Sinclair, InterAct Literary Intern

InterAct: You started working on this play several years ago, but it feels particularly—almost uncannily—relevant now, during this landmark election season. What was your initial motivation for writing this piece?

Vincent Delaney: Fascination with women in politics. Their unique role - how does image factor in? Plus the obsessive drive of political animals. What are they, at heart? Do they have to give more? Suffer more? How do they reconcile all this and still succeed? What sane person would ever, ever want to run for office?

InterAct: Laura is a character you constructed before Sarah Palin’s nomination and, I believe, before Hillary Clinton ran in the primaries. What initially drew you to writing a play about a female politician? What would you say about how the plight of female politicians plays out in THE WAR PARTY?

Vincent Delaney: I wanted to humanize a person that most of us would call a stereotype: right wing, homophobic, bigoted, clinging to power at all costs. Who is that person at heart? I’d like the play to be about ripping masks off and discovering what it means to be political—in the most personal, primal sense.

InterAct: With its Seattle and Philadelphia productions so close to the presidential election, do you feel THE WAR PARTY could potentially have an impact on audience members’ point of view on political campaigns and the election itself? Has working on it given you new insights into the American political machine and what it means to run for political office?

Vincent Delaney: Absolutely! I hope it cautions us to not fall for jargon. I hope it asks us to think about the exhausting, all consuming nature of political races—and not to fall for appearances.

InterAct: Has working on it given you any insights into the American political machine and what it means to run for political office?

Vincent Delaney: I feel like I’m closer to understanding the paradoxical loneliness and euphoria of elections, and how good people can make dreadful policy.

InterAct: Do you consider yourself a political playwright?

Vincent Delaney: Yes, but only to the extent that the politics becomes personal. My other plays are drawn from family history (including my own), or from wonderfully bizarre tidbits in the news. I love to play with genre. Part of the challenge of this piece was to write a two hander in continuous action. A huge challenge! Almost pulled it off, if that third character hadn’t wandered in.

I don’t try to argue a POV. I try to explore the humanity of very tense situations, usually with some comedy along the way. I seem to be drawn to darkness and uncertainty, which probably means I’m not a pure political playwright—in the agit-prop sense.

InterAct: Yes, but I think that the version of “political playwright” who asks questions rather than argues points is the most powerful kind. So, I want to ask about the indictment of the American two party system implicit in the play. Is this indictment your indictment?

Vincent Delaney: We all want change. We all recognize on some level that party platforms and policy statements are largely PR. Of course the Republicans are wrecking the country, it’s hard to argue that in fall of 2008. But the answer isn’t just to all become Democrats. There’s something else missing, something deeper, and I think we sense it and it makes us uneasy. Why such polarization? Where did that come from?

InterAct: As this play contains such serious questioning of both conservative and liberal values, do you see the endpoint as somehow enacting a radical or utopian ideology or fantasy?

Vincent Delaney: I think we can’t know what will happen after the play’s end. It’s essentially hopeful, but also unknowable, magical, and dangerous. Perhaps the characters will wake up after this fever dream to business as usual. Perhaps not. I hope the ending makes us want to talk.

InterAct: What’s next for you, Vince?

Vincent Delaney: Lots of travel this season, productions/workshops spread around the country. Newborn twins, less sleep, big compromises with family to travel so much.

Working on a play about the parents of a Columbine-type killer, who come together a year later to try to reinvent themselves. What happens when we find out we can’t know our children? I’m scared to work on this one.

InterAct: Thanks, Vince.

THE 2008/2009 SEASON

Introduction

The War Party

Purchasing Tickets

About The Play

An Excerpt of the Script

Running Time

The Playwright

Playwright Interview

The Director

The Cast & Crew

Talk-Backs

Calendar

The Rant
Jihad Jones...
Little Lamb

Writing Aloud

Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to InterAct Safely & Conveniently Online