Artist Profile: Quan Barry
Image credit: Jim Barnard
Quan Barry is the author of six books of poetry and fiction including the new release “When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East,” slated to released in February 2022 (Random House). She is currently the Writer-in-Residence at Forward Theater. Her first play The Mytilenean Debate will run from February 24-March 13, 2022 at the Overture Center in Madison and also online.
1) What's your secret creative passion or muse?
Hmmmm…I love me some pop culture. Why? As I kid, my mom didn’t allow us to spend a lot of time cozying up in front of the boob tube. So back then, my work around for this lack of TV was knowing everything there was to know about what was on simply by reading the free TV guide insert in the Sunday Boston Globe cover to cover. Today I still have that hunger to know about the world of TV and film. True, now I can watch whatever I want, but I honestly don’t really watch anything—maybe just 2-3 shows a year (all comedies). But even though I still don’t really watch TV, I do still read about it constantly online. One day I hope to turn my love of current pop culture into something fun.
2) Is there one contemporary play you've been particularly affected or influenced by?
I thought Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play Fairview was an amazing read. I love how this play goes through some real twists and turns and long moments of audience confusion before resolving what it came here to do. True, I haven’t seen a production of it, but I hope to when the world stabilizes a bit. And while it’s not new, one of my absolute favorite works of writing in any genre is Peter Shaffer’s Equus. I think it’s perfect in every way possible. It’s another one I’ve only ever read and not seen IRL, though again, I hope to remedy this someday.
3) Explain one or two objectives your hoping to accomplish as Forward Theater's first Writer-in-Residence?
I’ve spent the first twenty years of my writing career working as a kind of lone wolf. You can choose to do that when you’re a poet or fiction writer—when your manuscript is done, you only need to have a conversation with your editor about ways to strengthen the piece etc.
Theater is completely different in that it’s a collaborative world. You need people. Without them, your play is just a text on the page. At Forward Theater, I’ve been learning the collaborative language of how to bring a written text to life. By the end of my residency, I hope to feel more knowledgeable about the process of making theater…of what works onstage, and what doesn’t.
4) Share 2 to 3 types of art or specific artists you wish people were more aware of.
Wisconsin’s own Michael Velliquette is a paper artist (and a good friend of mine!) who is well-known in the paper art world, but not as well known in Wisconsin. Take a look at his website, plus consider that everything is made out of paper. Enough said, no?
I am no expert by a long shot, but I occasionally find myself searching for Butoh dance on YouTube. It’s a type of avant-garde Japanese dance. It’s off-putting, not beautiful, and at times, repellent. Yet utterly fascinating. It’s probably not for everyone, but I think it’s cool to know it exists in the world.
Finally, I love the novel Red Clocks by Leni Zumas. Beautiful. Gorgeously written. Important. It’s about women’s lives in a world without reproductive rights. But it’s never didactic—and the lack of rights is only one aspect of it. I can’t recommend this book enough!