Michael Frayn (#312) - March, 2011

Acclaimed for his works of fiction, non-fiction, philosophy, and theatre, Michael Frayn (2000 Tony Award winner for Best Play for “Copenhagen”) discusses how he determines when an idea is right for the stage when he has multiple forms to choose from. He also recalls writing and performing childhood puppet plays; the reason why his edition of Cambridge's Footlights Revue was the only one not to be seen in London; his days as a newspaper columnist, during which he frequently mocked and parodied the popular theatre of the day -- and whether he later regretted some of his jabs at theatre; his first invitation to write a one-act play; the play he wrote that producer Alexander H. Cohen found 'filthy'; whether his comedy “Alphabetical Order” was directly based upon his journalistic experiences; the plays of his that have never been seen in America; his longstanding professional association with director Michael Blakemore and why he value's the director's "stupid questions"; whether he fully visualized the madcap frenzy of “Noises Off” as he wrote it -- and why he's still prepared to tinker with the end of that highly successful play; why he only does English versions of French and Russian plays; how “Copenhagen” required him to do massive research, although his background in philosophy had given him a foundation in quantum mechanics; whether American audiences were less familiar than English audiences with the story of Willy Brandt as told in “Democracy”; what attracted him to the story of German director Max Reinhardt for “Afterlife”; and why it's easier to write about the distant past as opposed to the recent past.