Justin Maxwell Interview
Interview with TWFest 2025 One-Act Play Judge, Justin Maxwell
By Reine Dugas
What is it about reading a play that first captures your interest?
I’m in it for the novelty! I want to see something that I’ve never seen before. I’m happiest when I walk out of a theatre asking: What the hell was that?!? If I can say that a show was thing X in style Y, I’m far less interested in it than when I’m emotionally engaged and have to ask why.
What are you always happy to see in a play?
I want to see something evocative and powerful. Something I wasn’t expecting. The guitarist David Gillmor once said (I have no idea where) that if you show people a powerful enough image, they’ll give it meaning. I rather like that.
In grad school, a friend and I would joke that drama was the superior genre because if a fiction writer wanted to have Che Guevara walk into a room wearing a prom dress and carrying a duck, they’d have to spend pages of prose setting that world up. But, as soon as Che Guevara walks on stage wearing a prom dress and carrying a duck, people think, “What’s he gonna do with that duck?” They believe it because they see it, and as dramaturgs we can lead them from there. So, I’m looking for something unexpected. Something that pulls me forward in my chair.
What advice do you have for new playwrights?
Write to inspire all the other artists who will come together to make your play. All too often I see young writers include directions like “down stage center” or “blue lights from the grid.” Such phrases are a sufficient first attempt at getting one’s imagination onto the page; however, they make for terrible late drafts. Instead, write to inspire. If it’s a scene full of dread, don’t talk about the lights or the blocking; let the dread inspire the other artists. When that happens, the emotional truth of what we’re making becomes manifest. For example, I’m deeply proud of a stage direction in my play Your Lithopedion, which is simply “she does the raunchiest thing possible that’s still funny.” The important thing isn’t what the actor does but that it’s raunchy and funny. Every production has interpreted the physical actions differently, and always gotten it right.
What have you been reading lately?
I just finished Mice 1961 by Stacey Levine. I’ve been a huge fan of her work for a long time. She’s the Kafka of our time, making the mundane world disquieting in a way that’s slippery, shiny, and dangerous like a palm full of mercury. Carolyn Hembree’s For Today is just flipping amazing too. I loved it, and am looking forward to reading it again—it’ll probably take a few reads before I feel like I’m not reading it for the first time! In theatre, Bella Poynton’s Medusa Undone and Reginald Edmund’s Daughters of the Moon have been haunting me. I was fortunate enough to read a draft of Tim Braun’s Coney Island Land and am more than a little jealous of how he makes tone so masterfully.
How would you describe the New Orleans writing scene/community?
I love the local scene. There’s so much happening that I miss a lot of things I want to attend, but I try to be as much of a cheerleader as I can, even when I can’t make it in person. This town has the most welcoming theatre and writing community that I’ve ever encountered. My first time in NOLA was for a job interview—to teach playwriting in the Creative Writing Workshop (CWW) at UNO, my second time here was to rent an apartment, and my third time was to move in. I literally walked to the nearest coffee shop before my stuff arrived, searched the phrase “theatres + New Orleans,” and then emailed every artistic director I could find. I heard back from them all within a week, and met them all within a month. This is a town where anyone who is willing to show up, be an ally, and do the work is welcome. It’s hard not to love that.
How can playwrights connect with other writers here in the city?
There are lots of great organizations in town. LMNL lit and the local chapter of the Dramatists Guild both immediately leap to mind. It helps that both organizations are currently helmed by CWW alums, but it’s not surprising to see that—we know how to foster talent and make community. Otherwise, it’s a friendly town. Go to events and simply say hello. Because we’re a hands-on art scene, simply introducing yourself in a friendly way tends to earn a welcome.
What are your favorite TW plays?
Ha! After spending a summer in New Orleans, all of his characters make a lot more sense to me. I tend to like his late-career experimental material more than his major hits, but that says more about my aesthetics than anything else. Of course, at the risk of contradicting myself, it’s hard not to love Maggie the Cat…
Can you tell us about what you’re working on now?
At the moment, I’m finishing the last few revisions of Moise and the World of Reason. After that I’ll work on some prose. I often switch genres after a full length play as a kind of mental palette cleanser. I’ve got an essay about dirt roads that will be ready in the near future, and an idea for another essay about all the dogs I’ve spent a day randomly going fishing with—I’ve never been a dog person but have enjoyed several afternoons palling around with some rando barn dog on various trout streams. I’m not sure beyond that. I’ve got some ideas for a play about the Universe 25 experiments, but it’s a bleak project. I wrote a ten-minute play titled “I Met Sasquatch in the Uncanny Valley and We Totally Made Out a Little Bit,” which I think could grow into a funny and touching one-act. We shall what the muses whisper and what potential producers light up about.
To learn more about Justin Maxwell and his work, visit justinmaxwellplaywright.com.
