92NY’s celebration of Tony Award-winning playwright John Guare is a gathering of some of the most influential artists in American theater and film. Spearheaded by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and acclaimed actress Elizabeth Marvel, the evening includes appearances by Meryl Streep, Edie Falco, Ben Stiller, Ariana DeBose, Paul Dano, Suzan-Lori Parks, Dylan Baker, Zoe Kazan and many others — a testament to the monumental influence of Guare’s work. Ahead of the starry event, we talked to Marvel about her long friendship with Guare, why actors love working with him, why she and Kushner wanted to pay tribute to him, and more.
What was your introduction to John Guare’s work?
When I was a student at Juilliard, he was a writer whom everybody gravitated towards. Six Degrees of Separation had already gone up at that point, but his plays were at Lincoln Center while I was at school, and the work really affected me. After graduating I had done a few productions in New York and I had gotten to know the director Jim Nicola at New York Theatre Workshop. He had really wanted an actor to spearhead a production. He asked me what I wanted to do, and we had been in conversation about Guare’s plays Lydie Breeze and Gardenia, so Jim said, “Let’s do it.” And that’s when I really got to know John, because he was working with us every day in rehearsal. And he and I have just remained in a great creative conversation since then.
What characterizes his work?
John is so prolific. He always has a pen in hand and is always jotting things down. He has a lot of friends and he’s profoundly interested in the people around him — he’s friends with my 16-year-old son and talks to him exactly the way he talks to me. When you’re in conversation with him, it feels like he’s speaking directly to your soul. I think that makes its way into his work. As for the work itself, in some of our greatest American writers — Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, and John — you find a beautiful earthiness combined with a very bizarre metaphysical quality almost bordering on the surreal or psychedelic. His plays are incredibly funny and entertaining, and very observant of American society. There’s also great darkness that lurks in the corners. They’re not frivolous.
What was it like to work with him?
The beginning of Lydie Breeze opens with the character of Lydie(who I was playing), reading from the introduction of Bulfinch’s Mythology and talking to herself. I kept pushing against it and getting very frustrated. John was incredibly responsive and malleable — he worked with me and listened to me. He has so much love for actors, and really respects the fact that we’re the canaries in the coalmine — coming back with information and insights into the characters for him. So he pays attention to it and takes us seriously, and he’s very generous. As an actor, to know that you’re actually affecting his flow — this unbelievable waterfall of language that comes out of him — it’s very exciting. You feel valued by him as a co-creator, and I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way.
Some evidence of that is the lineup for this tribute we’re having for him at 92NY.
John is a great friend to both Tony Kushner and me, and Tony and I were musing together about him one day, and we thought — we should just have a big celebration for how fabulous John is. The trouble is that there’s so much great material — we could easily have a month-long celebration of him, and fitting everything that we love into one evening is proving very difficult. But we have a pretty incredible roster of performers who are going to do something pretty exciting.
Without giving away any of the evening’s surprises, what are you most looking forward to about the event?
The closing number is going to be one for the books. We got some big names. Everyone that we went to said, “Yes, of course,” because it’s John. Some of them are going to be singing, and they’re not people who you often get to see singing. Some people that you’ve never seen in a movie together are going to be doing scenes together. It’s going to be very entertaining.
What do you hope those who come to the tribute will take with them when they leave?
Simply that John is one of the great American voices — one of our great playwrights.
What is it like to be friends with an artist whose work you respect so much?
There have been so many walks through Washington Square Park over the years. He’s held my hand after I’ve read a particularly rough review or gotten an incredible job. He always helps me right the ship, in good time and bad times. He’s someone who understands the tempest of creativity, and the phenomenon of feeling like the piece of shit at the center of the universe [laughter]. And he just doesn’t lie — he’s always there backstage whenever he comes to see me and tells me exactly what he thinks. Sometimes I walk on air for a week after receiving his critique, and sometimes I just have to tell him to stop talking [laughter]. But through all of that, after I talk to my husband, he’s the first person I call when I need to figure things out. He’s a great human being.
Get your tickets for A Celebration of John Guare today.