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Media Relations

"Theatre for the indie-film crowd"

Paul Shoulberg, most prolific IU playwright in 20 years, presents M.F.A. thesis production "Reel"

By Tom Robson

Since arriving in Bloomington in August of 2004, Indiana University Bloomington M.F.A. playwright Paul Shoulberg has written six full-length plays, two medium-length one-acts, a handful of 10-minute plays and one screenplay. Such an enormous output in just over two years' time staggers IU Professor of Playwriting Dennis J. Reardon, who remarks, "He's now officially the most prolific playwright I've had in the program in 20 years."

Department of Theatre and Drama Chair Jonathan Michaelsen also uses the word "prolific" to describe Shoulberg. In fact, nearly every person who talks about the 30-year-old playwright quickly comments on the sheer volume of his writing in such a short period. This quantity of work presented a challenge to the department when the time came to select which of his plays would be presented in the 2006-2007 season as his M.F.A. thesis production.

Michaelsen says, "It was sort of comical almost in that he'd present one and say, 'But I have another one that I'll bring in,' or 'Here's a couple more I've worked on.' It's sort of amazing." M.F.A. playwrights typically present one or two full-length works, from which the department selects one to present. Shoulberg handed over five. From these, Michaelsen selected Reel, a dark comedy set on a Hollywood film set. The play so intrigued Michaelsen that he put his name forward to direct it.

Yet Reel is not the first Paul Shoulberg play to find an audience in Bloomington. Last September the Bloomington Playwrights Project presented his one-act Bicentennial Babies as part of its Dark Alley season. This past June his full-length play Privilege, set in the world of a college fraternity house, appeared in an independent student project. Both productions played to packed houses, where audience members eagerly devoured Shoulberg's trademark mixture of vicious comedy and wrenching pain. (Full disclosure: both of these productions were directed by this author.)

Another of his plays, Tweaked, has brought him success beyond the boundaries of Bloomington. The play, which focuses on two young women addicted to crystal methamphetamine, has brought Shoulberg success in several regional contests, recently placing second in a contest at Tulsa University. As a result of placing in this contest, which was devoted to plays with substantial roles for women, Tweaked will be presented at Tulsa. Just prior to this article's completion, Tweaked was selected as a finalist for the John Gassner New Play Festival at Stony Brook University. It also received a public reading at the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis this past May, an event arranged by IU Professor of Acting/Directing Dale McFadden.

Reel, which features a cast of six undergraduate and graduate students, opened on the stage of the Wells-Metz Theatre on Dec 1. The night before, the production was judged by representatives of the American College Theatre Festival. ACTF is one of the largest organizations for educational theatre in the country, and this year marks IU's return to participation.

Shoulberg has been submitting plays to the festival for years, since his time as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas. This year will be decidedly different for him, though, as it is the first time he has entered an entire production. If selected, the full company will go to the ACTF festival in Milwaukee in January, where the play will be re-mounted and presented to a large audience. Says Shoulberg, "When you enter a full production, you're suddenly -- many more doors open as far as what your play can be entered into, how you're being looked at, the possibility that your show could actually tour. It's a great opportunity to finally at least have a fighting chance. I couldn't have done this on my own."

Shoulberg tells the story of attending last year's conference, where he had entered his 10-minute play Somethin' Good, and bumping into Michaelsen, who had gone there to scout the event to look into IU participation. Shortly after that impromptu meeting, and the department announcing that Michaelsen would direct Reel, the department chair approached his student playwright to tell him they would be submitting the production for adjudication.

Reel has benefited from an extensive rewriting process, one far more involved than Shoulberg typically does. Reardon notes that the play had some "technical" problems in its earliest form. "He was having some trouble with plot points and a certain level of credibility in the play's dynamics." Shoulberg agrees, noting that it was an early play for him. One of the great advantages of writing so many plays is that he has been able to learn from his early mistakes and apply later developments to this play. "It's been interesting," he says, "to grow as a playwright and then keep going back to this play I wrote early on."

Yet this rewriting process should not stand as an indication that the play was without merit at the beginning. Michaelsen selected the play for production on the basis of the first draft. Reardon notes that, "The thing was always funny, right from the start." The development process has added greater depth to the play and clarified character relationships.

"Theatre for the indie-film crowd" is how Shoulberg describes his writing style. A certain cinematic quality permeates his playwriting, as a certain theatricality makes itself evident in his screenwriting. This connection with film naturally influenced the writing of Reel. About the play's inspiration, the writer mentions the infamous Tom Cruise on Oprah interview: "I was watching some interview with Tom Cruise and I thought, 'He never stops acting, and in the interview he's this weird character who has no concept of what's actually coming out of his mouth, or what anything that he says means, but he's very sincere about it. I thought that was fascinating." Such was the genesis of the character of Alex, played in this production by M.F.A. actor Matt Buffalo, a role Reardon refers to as "a jewel."

After Reel unspools and ACTF comes and goes, Shoulberg prepares to head out into world of professional playwriting, determined to head to New York City and "find a way to eat." With a collection of theatre friends already in New York, Shoulberg insists he will get his work out there. "If I have to throw something up on a street corner, that's what I'm going to do, but I'm going to New York City and I'm going to get heard by somebody there."

Performance information:

Reel will be performed Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 7-9, in the Wells Metz Theatre at IU Bloomington. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $16 for adults and $13 for students and seniors. Student Rush tickets are available the day of each performance; students with a valid IU I.D. may purchase any available tickets for $10 cash. Group prices are available. For detailed ticket information, call 812-855-1103 and ask for information about Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center tickets. To purchase tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at 333-9955 (for the Bloomington, Ind., area) or visit http://www.ticketmaster.com. For more information visit http://www.theatre.indiana.edu.

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