You Wouldn't Be Pretty If Your Face Didn't Look Like That is one of our one act plays being produced in our upcoming One Act Play Festival! We reached out to some of the people who made this production possible to find out more about them and this exciting festival!
What about the One Act Festival are you the most excited about?
John Baldwin (Director): Just love the 3 plays and the actors that I am directing.
Matilyn Hull (Actor): I've admired The Magnetic Theatre's one act and sketch comedy shows for a while now, and I'm happy to get involved! I'm most excited to work with people I haven't had the opportunity to work with before.
Chey Morris (Actor): Meeting people involved in the Asheville theatre community!
Why is being a part of this project important to you?
Matilyn Hull (Actor): I think it's important to produce new works and expose audiences to different stories, ideas, and viewpoints. As an actor, I enjoy working on new works because I have the chance to originate characters and help playwrights to see their works come to life.
Emily Breeze (Playwright): It’s so rare as a playwright to have a festival that fully produces your work, and you just get to be a writer. I’m very grateful to The Magnetic Theatre for making space for writers to be writers and not producers/press agents/stage managers/front of house. Those jobs are incredibly important and I’m pretty bad at them, so it’s nice to not worry about doing them well!
Do you feel that producing new work is important? Why?
John Baldwin (Director): Because new theatre brings focus to things in this world that people need to know and care about.
Emily Breeze (Playwright): Without new work, theatre turns into a museum. Museums are great, but I’ve never laughed, cried, gasped and stood up cheering in 90 minutes at the Whitney.
Tell us about the piece(s) you’re working on rehearsing for the One Act Play Festival!
John Baldwin (Director): Three pieces and they are the ones to which I really wanted to be assigned.
Matilyn Hull (Actor): In You Wouldn't Be Pretty If Your Face Didn't Look Like That, three sisters become possessed by the same ghost as they try to figure out which one of them sold her soul. The script is even wackier than that sentence.
Chey Morris (Actor): It’s a bonkers show about three sisters who get possessed by a ghost!
What's your favorite thing about the piece(s) you're working on?
John Baldwin (Director): The variety of both the plays and the acting.
Chey Morris (Actor): Definitely working with my castmates—they’re both amazing women and I’ve had a blast with them.
What made you want to write this piece?
Emily Breeze (Playwright): I love ghost stories and I love how sisters talk to each other. My sisters are the only people I’d want to be haunted with, because they’d annoy the shit out of a ghost very quickly.
Tell us about your writing process.
Emily Breeze (Playwright): Mostly I just put a song on Spotify on repeat and then I don’t get up until it’s done. Train rides and plane rides are also great for writing.
What have you loved so far about working with The Magnetic Theatre?
John Baldwin (Director): Always the people.
Matilyn Hull (Actor): The staff and actors at The Magnetic Theatre are multi-talented, often working in multiple facets of theatre, which I find inspiring. I have worked with so many kind, collaborative people at here who are committed to keeping creative process professional and really fun.
Emily Breeze (Playwright): The Magnetic Theatre is an incredibly supportive group of people who genuinely want to make space for artists. It’s pretty great.
How did you get into theatre?
John Baldwin (Director): Started in the 2nd grade and I was hooked!
Chey Morris (Actor): I saw the national tour of The Addams Family and immediately knew theatre was something I wanted to do.
What are your top 5 favorite things to do in Asheville?
Matilyn Hull (Actor): Hiking Tennent Mountain, spending an evening at Little Jumbo Bar and Nine Mile Montford, antique shopping, Going for long walks (Historic Montford, Riverside Cemetery, Kimberly Avenue - Asheville is full of great spots to walk!), and seeing my friends in their shows.
Emily Breeze (Playwright): Bear’s Barbecue in Asheville is amazing. My 5 favorite things in Asheville are the theatre scene, and the brisket, the ribs, the pulled pork, and the poutine at Bear’s.
Chey Morris (Actor): Hiking, visiting local shops, going to Wag Bar with my dog, sit on my balcony and watch the sunset, drive on the parkway.
Do you have any upcoming projects we should check out?
John Baldwin (Director): Directing The Importance of Being Earnest at Hendersonville Theatre next March.
The Magnetic Theatre’s Third Annual One Act Play Festival will be showing November 4-13, 2022! Find out more and grab your tickets here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=magn