Meet Ian Downes! They are one of our amazing playwrights of one of the four one acts being performed in our current production of Playing With Our Food!
This production will be a live-streamed performance of a collection of four one-act plays, all dedicated to food, eating, and how weird it all is! All shows will feature Tabitha Judy, Strother Stingley, and Tippin.
Plays include 37 Scenes and a Watermelon by Ian Downes, Cookies for Bethany by Jackie Martin, Last Beans in the Box by Evan Baughfman, and Three Women and an Onion by Ryan Bultrowicz.
We reached out to Ian about what their experience has been like during this production!
1. How does your play (or a particular play in the case of an actor/director) reflect or not reflect your personal life philosophy?
I generally view art as supplying questions, not answers. This play in particular is a big question for anyone involved with it, I think. How do we do this? in the case of the production team. What does it mean? in the case of witnesses to it.
2. Do you relate to your characters? How similar / different are you?
I think it's hard not to relate to the characters, because they are rather vague. It doesn't fully approach an open scene, but it lingers in that space of having to envision aspects of character that aren't fully given to you.
3. What's your favorite line in your show? Why?
I think one of the most telling lines is "If they wanted me to take it seriously, they should have done something else?" because it fits into this weird thesis and anti-thesis. Because, I imagine, some people will be sitting with that same thought. And I hope it brings up an idea that maybe it isn't supposed to be taken seriously. Or if it is, it already was serious enough to be the "something else."
4. Why choose this particular food as your play's focus?
People know watermelons. Because a watermelon has heft to it. It is a prop that must be taken seriously as a prop. It takes up space. And because watermelon are gory gory foodstuff, like any good fruit. But when a watermelon is cracked open, it bleeds, and runs with water, and is a mess. I love a good mess.
5. What inspired you to approach the subject matter the way you did?
Spite, mostly. If we're being honest, this play arose out of my self-absorbed anger at people bringing the lights down for "scenes" in a ten-minute play, so I wanted to mock that. Hence, 37 Scenes. The watermelon storyline came about at these ideas of small scenes that have to fit in this time-frame that I was considering when writing. I wanted something that could make statements quickly. Bam! What's that? Next Scene! A watermelon, at least from the Southern roots that I have, does that well. People know watermelons.
6. What makes this experience special for you? What has been the most enjoyable aspect of this process?
The emails I've received from The Magnetic Theatre have been charming. It's always exciting when someone reaches out to say "Hey! We wanna do this!" And they seem like the kind of people that should be doing this play, because their is charm to it.
7. How did you get into theatre?
I acted in, wrote, and directed murder mystery dinner theatre shows at University of Redlands as fundraisers for local charities.
8. How is working with The Magnetic different from working with other theatres?
I began in community theatre in Auburn, in a youth production of Fiddler on the Roof. The director Kim Hirt made it such an appealing process and space that I just kept coming back to it, making more friends and more connections. Theatre is a community in so many ways.
9. How is working with The Magnetic different from working with other theatres?
Well, it is odd being so distant from the theatre I'm working with, but in many ways it feels similar. There is such great want to be doing work again, doing work always. The Magnetic Theatre seems to exude this kind of joy for the work of theatre.
10. Do you have any upcoming projects that we should check out?
I'm in the drafting stage of a play currently imagined as Retail Horror, which I think will be unbearable for anyone who has ever worked in retail. But the next play that will end up on my New Play Exchange has risen from the depths of a research project on the Kraken - which envisions an ensemble of movers with speaking parts, and a few larger roles of storytellers. If you're reading this and looking for new horror plays, we should chat!
Biography
Ian Downes (Any Pronouns) is a playwright hailing from Auburn, Alabama. They currently are working on a PhD at the SUNY University at Buffalo. He generally writes horror plays, and has had many plays produced in Play Readings, but she would love to see them more fully produced!
Playing With Our Food Shows March 25-27, Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 pm. Grab your tickets here 👉 https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=122226