At the PWC this week: Francine Volpe

McKnight National Residency and Commission recipient Francine Volpe is workshopping her commissioned play Bringing Jimmy Home at the Playwrights' Center this week. It is the second of three week-long workshops for Francine this year. There will be a public showing of the play in progress in mid-June; keep an eye on this site for details. To tide you over, here is a mini-interview with Francine:

What kind of stories have you been interested in writing recently?

Almost all of my plays take place at the intersection of class tensions and sexual tensions. I love psychological thrillers. I'm a big fan of 70's films like Klute.

How do you write political plays, or plays with a message, without becoming didactic?

You don't.

Finish this sentence: If I weren’t a playwright I would be…

A stylist. When I’m working as a dramaturg I can often intuit what a playwright wishes to express even when it’s not quite on the page... Sometimes when I’m walking through the streets of New York or I’m on the subway I can see what a person means to express with their clothes or hair or make-up and I want to make their vision clearer and more potent.

How can artists support other artists?

Pay them. Or help them to get paying work.