Adam Rapp
Adam Rapp
Adam Rappis an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play, Red Light Winter, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth15 June 1968
CountryUnited States of America
became brother degrees experience john saw theatrical york
I saw 'Six Degrees of Separation' because my brother was in it. It was a watershed experience. It was theatrical and scary, and New York functioned like a character. John Guare became a hero for me.
edges fan love musical musicals noble per plays straight structure
I love plays that have musical moments. I'm not a big fan of musicals per se, but I love straight plays that have musical edges to them. I don't know if I will ever be able to structure a musical, but 'Finer Noble Gases' is as close as I've gotten.
backs directing far stuff turned
Film directing has perfected my theater directing. I think when I first started directing, a lot of my stuff was very lateral; I was afraid to have the actors' backs turned away, afraid to put them too far upstage, and I think once I did more things with film, I got more interested in composition.
fit hang jock nerd sort
I was a jock in college and high school, but I didn't hang out with the jocks. I was sort of a nerd who didn't look like a nerd. I never really fit into any social set.
When you're poor, you don't want anyone to know you're poor.
time uncertain
I like to write about teenagers because it's such an uncertain and dramatic time.
academy born high illinois military minutes school small spent thirty
I was born in Chicago, then I spent most of my youth in Joliet, Illinois which is about thirty minutes south, and I went to a military academy for high school in Wisconsin. Then I went to college, on a basketball scholarship to a small school in Iowa, so I'm like Mr. Midwest.
fear form kids sheltering
I hate the idea of sheltering kids from challenging books. It's just another form of conservative fear that promotes ignorance more than anything else.
almost breaking experience religious work
When I work in the theater, you know you'll get this almost devotional, religious experience where you're breaking bread with everyone every day.
academy behind came five high kids talking women
When I came to New York, I was really awkward. I went to military academy for high school, so I didn't have the socialization that most kids do. When I got here, I was five years behind everybody. Talking to women was weird for me.
characters darker deal entertain
I have to be entertained by what I'm writing, so a lot of my stuff has a goofiness or scatological quality. If these characters can entertain me, then I feel like I can deal with the darker or more serious stuff.
consist few greatest modern people room work works
Some of the greatest works of theater, from Chekov's work to modern playwrights', consist of just a few people in a room with no one leaving.