The pen is mightier than the sword. We are certainly headed into a fight with the direction this world is heading and now is the time to arm ourselves with knowledge, because it is power, and take to the streets with weapons of massive creativity! A brand new theatre company— Pink Pen Theatre, a company dedicated to the work of LGBTQ+ playwrights— is starting its hopeful existence with a brand new play festival— Think Pink! A Gay Play Festival— featuring short one-acts from local LGBTQ+ playwrights— and it’s coming this fall! We’ve sat down with the company’s founder and visionary Bill Kamberger to discuss the festival and future plans for the company.
Thank you so very much for sitting with us! I’m always curious and intrigued when I hear about a new company popping up in town, especially when their opening bid to the world is a short-plays festival. Can you tell me a little bit about why you wanted to start this theatre company?
Bill Kamberger: Obviously there are a number of theatres that do foster new work. Even with all of those, there’s still a lot of beautiful writing that’s being done and for one reason or another, it can’t be produced. There is a lot of talent out there and they are writing but there’s only so many slots in any given year, especially for new work. I thought it would be good to have another venue for that. It seemed to me, just listening to some of the scripts that were being presented and considered that there were a number of gay and queer voices that were writing good scripts that for one reason or another just weren’t being produced. I thought, let’s bring them all together. I reached out to several other playwright friends that I knew, who are more established but still had a number of scripts in their libraries that had not yet been produced too, So we pulled them all together, went through and came up with 11 that we are going to be doing this year. And several others that we will be considering for the future.
How did you come up with the name for the company, Pink Pen Theatre?
Bill: So Steve Satta, as you may know, is the chair of the MFA Theatre program at Towson University, and he is one of our playwrights. He suggested “Pink Pen.” Obviously pink is a color that is commonly used in the LGBTQ+ community, obviously we’re playwrights. From there, I developed the name of the festival to be “Think Pink” because you may have seen the old Fred Astaire movie Funny Face. There’s a song in that movie called “Think Pink” and I thought it was just meant to be.
What is it that you are looking for when you go to choose a work, or when you were choosing the works that are going to be featured in this inaugural festival of Pink Pen Theatre?
Bill: When I read a script, it often says “Do Me!” There were a number that said “do me” this year. As it turns out, a lot of them went very well together as far as developing similar themes, even though they’re from a bunch of different playwrights. Eventually we came up with a group we thought was very cohesive.
You have seven playwrights. Can you tell us a little bit about who they are and how they found their way into your festival?
Bill: I’ll go alphabetically so I don’t forget anyone. We’ll start with John Bavoso. He is an internationally produced playwright. He has had his works produced in Australia and Dubai, really all over the place. He has contributed to several of the 10x10x10 Festivals at Fells Point Corner Theatre. He had a script this year that he did submit but they ended up not selecting it, so we picked it up. And John mentioned he had some other scripts, and we read through them and eventually settled on three of his works. One of them is the only play in our selection of 11 that is not a world premiere. It is a Maryland premiere. The other ten are world premieres. But this particular play, the one that’s a Maryland premiere, was actually published last year’s edition of The Best Ten-Minute Plays. And the one that John had submitted to FPCT that they didn’t select, that one is sort of like a spiritual sequel to the one that previously published. And then he had this third one that was brand new, and I thought they were all really good fits for this festival.
So that’s your first playwright. Who else do you have?
Bill: DC Cathro. He’s a dear friend; I directed him years ago. He submitted a dozen scripts. He’s a prolific guy; he’s very talented and painfully we whittled it down to three. They are all lovely works. Then we also have Rich Espey, he’s a major name here in the Baltimore theatre scene. He’s also a three-time winner of the Carol Weinburg Award for best play at Baltimore Playwrights’ Festival. I had actually directed one of Espey’s works years ago as a part of the “Gay Expectations Festival” which was the genesis of Iron Crow Theatre. And then there’s— oh, I guess I’ll skip that guy. Because it’s me.
You’ve written a script for this?
Bill: Yes. So it is a play that I’m dedicating to my late husband of 24 years who passed away last year. It’s somewhat of a fictionalized version of my journey since his passing and how I’m inspired to feel that he would react to that.
This sounds like a really beautiful tribute, and I can’t help but hope that this is a helpful step in your personal grieving process, and for anyone who has lost a spouse that gets to see this work.
Bill: I hope that it will help others in whatever processes they are going through as well. This will be my first produced play, so I’m actually really looking forward to that.
Just because your work has never been produced does not mean that you are not a playwright. Now, by my count that’s four, and you said you have seven. Who else do you have in your playwright group for this festival?
Bill: Indeed. Next up, and this playwright is also having their first production, their name is Jamie McElhatton. They are a trans-playwright and they are inspired by their own journey, though highly fictionalized. They are also drawing on their experience of being a journalist covering politics in the DC area. They’ve won a number of national awards for that. It’s a very moving but also a very funny take on the whole process of coming out as Trans.
This all sounds really great, I’m getting excited just learning about the playwrights. Who’s left?
Bill: Steve Satta, of course. His contribution is the one play in our festival, and we hope that we’ll have more in the future, that focuses on the lesbian-side of the spectrum. It’s a romantic comedy. And our last playwright, again just going alphabetically here, we have Emily Scott, and she’s actually the pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, which is where we will be presenting the festival. And her contribution is very interesting. It’s focused more on gay men than on lesbians but it is an exciting work; it’s her first play and it explores what it means to be a queer person in a religious context. It focuses on a congregation that is closing, a church that is closing its doors after many years, and what that will mean for the people who have come to depend on that as their life, and how they will deal with that. Although, in some cases, it’s not overt, obviously their genders and sexual identities play a role in how they respond and how they resolve to go on.
So you’ve got this festival of fantastic new works in the works, as it were. And that goes up at the end of September. What is the overall goal for the Pink Pen Theatre as a whole? You want to have an annual festival to showcase new works from LGBTQ+ playwrights that aren’t getting produced, but what else are you hoping to do with the company? Are you hoping to do main-stage works throughout the year, is it more along the lines of “this is a company that exists to produce this big festival once a year?” What are your goals for Pink Pen Theatre?
Bill: Obviously we would like to expand the ten-minute play festival and really open it up beyond just the circle of friends and people I rub shoulders with at the theatre. I think it would be good to branch out beyond development of new works into the territory of seeing established work in a new way. Nothing is definite at this point. But I would certainly be open to that in the future.
I like your open, “go with the flow” approach to this. I’ve seen a lot of theatre companies start up over the years, and I think sometimes one of their biggest mistakes is setting themselves to this rigorous formula or notion of “we have to produce X-number of shows a year and one needs to be a musical, and one has to have a bunch of kids, etc.” I think its smart to keep your formatting options for how you operate as a company open to changes and transformations. Now, you’re directing the festival?
Bill: I am.
Can you tell us about your actors? Is it as many or as few as the number of playwrights you have, who are they, are they in multiple shows?
Bill: It is more. There are ten actors. And we’ve got some wonderful talent involved in this, and I’m sure you know several of them. I’m going to go again alphabetically so I make sure I get them all. We’ve got Anthony Case, he’s a very fine actor as you know, and he’s a director as well. He also just happens to be my nephew and this will be our first show together.
Oh that’s actually really special. I love that for both of you. Who else is among your actors?
Bill: Louisa Davis is playing a couple of roles for us. Richard Goldberg is with us. And then we have Christian Gonzalez—
You’re right, Bill. I’ve recognized all of these names so far!
Bill: You probably recognize them from musical theatre. They are all very vocally talented.
I think the irony there is that you have all these musical theater actors coming to your festival for ‘straight plays’ that are not ‘straight’ plays at all. This is brilliant. Who else?
Bill: Where did I leave off? Ah, J Hargrove…
Okay, seriously, where isn’t J right now? I feel like every show I go to— there’s J. Right in the middle of it.
Bill: You’re not wrong. This will be J’s seventh show this year. And I know they have more lined up afterwards. J is doing great work with us and we love having them. And then we have a lady who I have directed seven times over the years— Nancy Kelso. And we also have Todd Krickler and Morgan Stanton, both of whom have returned to the stage after a long break for fatherhood. So I’m very excited to have both of them aboard. And then Cellina Taormino. Oh! And I forgot— Jamie McElhatton, one of our playwrights— is also playing as one of the actors.
This sounds like an excellent mix of people to bring these ten-minute plays to life. I’m excited to see it. What, as the director and as the founder of this company, have been the challenges of getting this playwright’s festival— this new works festival— to where you want it to be?
Bill: Well, I have been very blessed. As I’ve said, we have some wonderful scripts, excellent cast, and very dedicated and very insightful production team. If I don’t mess it up, it will be wonderful. We run from the 29th of September through the 15th of October so there’s lots of opportunities for people to come out and experience it.
What is it that you are hoping people will take away from coming out to see this ten-minute play festival at a new company who is dedicated to promoting gay and queer voices?
Bill: I hope that they will have their horizons expanded while at the same time realizing that there is a common humanity and that the problems and challenges that they face are also problems that the LGBTQ+ community faces and the best way to address those challenges is to do something about them.
Is there anything else you want to talk about when it comes to the production, maybe formatting wise? Are you doing a few, giving the audience a break, and doing a few more? Or are you just running all 11 and saying “Bathrooms are over there; go before the show?”
Bill: No, no. It’s broken down into two acts. And there will be intermission!
Anything else about the plays, the playwrights, your actors, the experience as a whole— I’m giving you an “open pen” here as it were.
Bill: Oh yes. Let’s see… well, the plays run the gamut as far as style and as far as the effect that they will have on your head and your heart. But I think that when all is said and done, I think people will see a nice cross-section of humanity and a nice cross-section of the way that we create art.
Now, I won’t say “favorite” because I don’t want any of the playwrights to get their feelings hurt, but is there one show among the 11 that you just cannot wait to see up on its feet for one reason or another?
Bill: They all have been revelations to me. I knew they were going to be good but they’ve reached a new depth and a new level of engagement on the stage, that I think will be wonderful to share and I think audiences will love to experience. As you say, they are all individuals, they are all different. But I see them as one. I’m approaching them as a unit. So they are all my favorite. Think one-play; eleven-scenes. Even though they’re eleven different plays.
That’s the perfect answer. What has being a playwright and a director for this experience taught you about yourself?
Bill: The one that I wrote is the one that I get a little nervous about— I have no doubt it will be great because of the two actors I have, I could not ask for better— but I think just knowing I wrote it and its my first play produced… but I am looking forward to diving into that one.
Theatre is ubiquitously spread, all across the city, all around the county. There will without a doubt be all sorts of things opening on both the weekend that you open Think Pink! and other things opening over the course of the run of the festival. Never a moment where theatre isn’t happening in and around Baltimore. If people are going to go out and see theatre— and this is not a “come to us, not them” sort of thing— but if people are going to go out of their homes and support local theatre, why do you want them to choose to come and support Think Pink! for the three weekends that it runs?
Bill: These are plays that have never had a chance to be seen before. And although I hope they will have a long production life beyond the festival, there is no guarantee of when or if they will ever be seen again. In that sense, it is a unique experience that no other company opening that weekend could provide. It is from a perspective that, although not unheard of in the theatre repertoire, is certainly— in the way that these things are being approached— has not been done before.
What do you think is the significance of mounting a gay and queer voices 10-minute play festival in this current political climate?
Bill: Obviously we are at a stage where after taking two steps forward, we are now politically taking one step back. We can only hope that that will improve, but the only real way to address that is continuing to make our voices heard and hopefully inspiring others to add their voices to the conversation. St. Marks in particular is a very LGBTQ+ affirming congregation. Just as we were beginning production and preparation, St. Marks’ pride flag was stolen. So our set designer, John Seeley, is shedding light on that event, on that trauma that was caused by that theft, and highlighting the renewed dedication that the church has shown to the community afterwards through his set design. I won’t give too much away but again it will be something that you won’t see anywhere else.
Anything else you’d like to say about tackling eleven shows at once as a director? I know you mentioned that you’re treating it as a whole, but surely they all have different themes and tones and styles.
Bill: They do but so far so good! I have been concentrating on one show each rehearsal so far. So transitioning to a different style or tone has been fine because it’s separated out by rehearsal. But as I’ve said, I’m still keeping them all in mind as a whole. In that sense, it is in many ways just like directing a full-length play, just with very, very different scenes.
As a director, do you have a preferred genre or style that you find you enjoy directing more? Or all you more of an all-genres and styles opportunist?
Bill: I’m open to anything. My directing career has been focused on musicals. And we do not have a musical, per say, this year. Although there will be uses of music. There will be song.
Would one of the company’s future goals perhaps be to produce a musical that supports and highlights LGBTQ+ voices?
Bill: Oh absolutely. I’ve actually spoken with David Gregory about one of his new projects. He has a piece which was not originally conceived as LGBTQ+ but could be re-envisioned as that in the future, and I’m open to working with that.
David Gregory got me my start in reviewing, so I’m all for supporting whatever project he’s bringing to the table. That’s wonderful to hear that you’ve got him on board for future endeavors, all the way from Spain! Now, if you had to sum up your experience with Think Pink! in just one word, what is the word that you would use?
Bill: Joy. Some of the plays, as I’ve mentioned, are going to be heart-tuggers, but even in the midst of sorrow there is going to be Joy. Rich Espey’s play, for instance, we’ve said in rehearsal, “tragedy should be an uplifting experience, not a depressing experience” and he’s managed that. It’s true of several other works as well. And the comic ones are joy, of course. And it’s been a joy to work on and direct. So Joy.
Any closing words on getting people out to the theatre to experience Think Pink!
Bill: We’d like people of all identities and orientations to come out. This is for everyone. We hope that everyone comes out and will enjoy the excellent work that everyone has put into making this happen.
Think Pink! A Gay Play Festival plays through October 15th 2023 with Pink Pen Theatre at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church— 1900 St. Paul Street in the Station North Arts District of Baltimore, MD. Tickets are available at the door and in advance online.
