Meet the Cast of A Bright New Boise

An interview with A Bright New Boise A.R.T. Institute actors Ben Sidell and Corey Sullivan and A.R.T. Institute dramaturg Amanda Martin

 

Amanda Martin: Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us where you’re originally from? A Bright New Boise takes place in Idaho, could you comment on how that might resonate with you and where you grew up? Do you find this play to be distinctly Idahoan, or more generally American?

Ben Sidell: My name is Ben Sidell, and I’m originally from Boston. I spent 8 years in Los Angeles, so I’m very coast happy. I’ve never been to Boise, Idaho, or anywhere in Idaho. I think it’s very interesting that Sam Hunter chose to set the play in Idaho, but I don’t necessarily think that the story has to take place in Boise. The play asks incredibly universal questions, like “what do we believe in,” “what should we believe in,” and “should we believe in a higher power, or ourselves?” I think these are questions that everybody asks regardless of where they’re from.

Corey Sullivan: I’m Corey, I’m originally from Boston as well. I lived in New York for 7 or 8 years, then I was in Abu Dhabi for a few years, and now I’m here again. There is something about Idaho that resonates with me, though. This summer I coincidentally escaped to the northwest on a road trip with some of my friends, and I spent a bunch of time in Montana and in Coeur d’Alene and this small town right outside Coeur d’Alene, which is really strange. And that just happened to be a moment in my life where I had just gone through a really intense first year of school and my summer started with a bang and I just needed to go and be in this space with my friends. It was odd when I was first reading this play, it felt like it just kind of landed in my lap. I also think there’s something about that region, where everyone is so kind and seems so open but there’s this sense of privacy as well. But overall I think the play deals with the ways that we prevent ourselves from being happy. There are so many golden opportunities in life where the hand is out stretched and happiness is offered and, why don’t we just grab those? That’s happened to me, where some situation would make so much sense, but – why can’t we just do it? So, more than anything that resonates with me.

AM: I do think this play deals with that, and I think it also deals with what Ben was talking about – should we look to religion or look at ourselves or between ourselves, between people?

BS: I think it’s all about connecting, it’s about finding something to connect to, whether that’s a higher being or the universe or someone. It’s about being open to that connection.

AM: Do you think this play suggests that there are some forms of connection that are better to seek than others? In some ways it seems like it’s telling us to stop looking up, for meaning above, and spend more time looking across, at people.

CS: I mean that sounds so great when you say it like that, “we shouldn’t be looking up, we should be looking across,” but I think – I think I’m sure this play isn’t about religion. Maybe it is, but for me, religion could be anything, it could be work, career, anything. But it just happens to be religion in this instance. And the unique thing about religion is that it can always top whatever reason you have, you can say “God is more important than love, God is more important than family.”

AM: Right. And A Bright New Boise is very effective in using religion as a metaphor for whatever we use to get in our own way because it is, as you mentioned, unique in its ability to veto anything. Can you tell me a little about your own experiences with religion in the conventional sense?

CS: I was raised Catholic, then I became kind of a lapsed Catholic, but I was always really engaged by religion. I wanted more from Church that I wasn’t getting, but I didn’t necessarily date other churches, I just dove into religious texts and got really into Joseph Campbell. I actually majored in theology in undergrad. We’d have a month off every January, and I would go spend these breaks at a monastery, where I’d be silent for a few weeks. I stopped doing it actually because I felt guilty, I would go to these monasteries and they would be like, “oh a new recruit, look at this young man, he’s so devoted,” and I’d just be like, “oh yeah, OK, I’m just gonna go back to this film class, see ya later.” I think now I really appreciate different religions, but it was a tumultuous relationship for the first 20 years.

BS: I was raised in a reformed Jewish household. But religion to me was never about religion itself. It was always more about community and tradition, which I think is ingrained in the Jewish religion in general. If you were to ask me today whether I think I’m a religious person I would say no in that I don’t necessarily consider myself “Jewish” by the mainstream understanding of it. But I am in the sense that I certainly believe in things, in the universe, in destiny and fate, and that we’re meant to be in this park right now, the 3 of us, doing this interview. But I don’t know if I necessarily believe in a person watching. I think that, to take what Corey was saying, religion can be your work, your yoga, whatever. All five of the characters in the play prescribe to different “religions.” Pauline to the store, Will to religion, Leroy to art, Alex to his music, Anna to – I’m not quite sure what Anna is prescribing to, but something. My religion is my family and my friends. I live for my family and my friends. They’re the most important things to me. But I agree with Corey, I don’t necessarily think that A Bright New Boise is about religion. I think that religion is a wonderful surface layer to guise the underlying issues, which I think mainly have to do with human connection.

AM: Is there anything else that’s struck you about working on this show? What has it been like working with director Marcus Stern?

CS: It’s been so interesting to work with Marcus on this play, since he’s someone who is kind of allergic to straight plays. The scope to which he’s broadened the possibilities of what we can do with this text has been incredible. I feel like he’s really making this show come to life in a different way.

BS: What sums up Marcus is my mind is magical realism. There’s always the core idea of humanity and connection, but he explodes the rules of reality. He’s really done that beautifully with this play, in a way that’s still really respectful of the writing and the material.

CS: It’s funny because usually when you see that, when someone says “we’re going to have this Beckettian set,” and you bring out the microphones and certain physical choices, your assumption is that the director is making it about the ideas of the play. But he’s not, he’s actually using it to bring out the sweetness and relatability of the characters. That’s been the really interesting part.

AM: I absolutely agree. We’ve been discussing a lot of light content, such as religion and where to find meaning in life. Let’s get deep. What is your personal favorite coffee or tea drink and what do you think your character’s would be?

CS: I actually know this. My personal favorite, that I drink 2-3 times a day -and I feel pretentious saying this – is a non-fat latte. But I know Will drinks those large cans of Arizona iced tea. No way he drinks coffee, but he’s at a point in his life where his sources of nourishment are these gas stations and rest areas. He’s drinking like, raspberry iced teas out of cans, and eating food that’s usually slanted towards a childish taste. Like Teddy Grahams and Goldfish, maybe a Capris Sun.

BS: My drink of choice is a Venti iced Americano. I think Alex drinks coffee, but probably goes in and out of drinking coffee depending on the week or day. This week though, he drinks it because his father just got back into town and he’s stressed out and can’t sleep anyway, so he’s all about coffee and cigarettes.

AM: Just plain coffee? Nothing in it?

BS: Maybe one cube of sugar. Just one. He doesn’t tell anybody, though. He just sneaks it in.

 

Amanda Martin is a first year dramaturgy student at the A.R.T./Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.