DJ Q&A

GS: Well, I was born and raised in Las Vegas, which I thought was a totally normal experience until I moved to New York to attend grad school at NYU. My dad is a Brazilian/Italian performer who was one of the foremost gun twirlers in Las Vegas (along with Sammy Davis Jr.) in the ’60s and ’70s. Yep. Let that sink in.

My Mom was active in politics and worked hard to make sure we had a normal...ish...childhood. She was from a tiny, dusty town in Oklahoma and was an extraordinary woman who had the innate wisdom and decency of Atticus Finch (from the first book!!) I feel like I had this colorful, glamorous, strange upbringing that prepared me for a life of storytelling.

Since I just relocated to Silicon Valley when I became the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks last year, I am looking for hobbies, or rather, places to do my hobbies and people to do my hobbies with. I love hiking and camping and I’m looking forward to exploring the area more.

DJ: What was your first theatre experience?

GS: When I was in junior high school, I was cast as Belinda Cratchit in the UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) theater department’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” My older sister was also in that production. It was incredibly special, as a 12-year-old, to work and play with adults and to be treated as an equal, valued member of the cast. There was something extraordinary about that experience.

DJ: For a while you were a magician’s assistant. Any transference from staging illusions to dealing with managing what your audience sees?

GS: Definitely! When you work in magic you learn the art of distraction and you learn how to ensure your audience sees exactly what you want them to see. When I directed Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj, I asked the Geffen Playhouse to hire a magician to work with me on a scene where (spoiler!) one of the characters gets his hands chopped off. We were so successful at this that even Rajiv, who clearly knew the story better than anyone, couldn’t believe what we had pulled off. The magician we worked with, Dominik Krzanowski, would later use the basis of our trick to perform on “Penn and Teller: Fool Us.” (here’s the link to his website https://sebastiankraine.com/ where you can find the video of his amazing illusion).

DJ: Are there mentors or teachers you would like to acknowledge?

GS: So, so many. I was incredibly fortunate to attend NYU’s Graduate Acting Program when Zelda Fichandler was the chair and Ron Van Lieu was head of the acting program. Master Games teacher Paul Walker was instrumental in instilling a sense of play in our approach to our work and it was one of the greatest honors when I joined the faculty of the Grad Acting Program as the Games Teacher and was able to carry on his legacy. Honestly, I should mention every teacher I had at NYU! I’ve also been extraordinarily blessed to have been uplifted and mentored by fierce women of the American Theater who paved the way for so many of us like Carole Rothman and Angelina Fiordellisi.

DJ: Describe TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

GS: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is a professional theatre — a Tony Award recipient, in fact (she says humbly and proudly — that creates world class theater on the Peninsula, presented in our theaters in Palo Alto and Mountain View. We are renowned for our commitment to developing and supporting new plays and our annual New Works Festival has launched shows like the Tony Award-winning Memphis and the Obie Award winner Describe the Night by Rajiv Joseph. I’m truly thrilled to be at the helm of this extraordinary theatre that has been part of this community for 54 years. We are doing exciting things and I hope everyone will join us for “King James” and the other five plays and musicals we’re presenting this season.

DJ: In broad strokes, what is the storyline of “King James”?

GS: The play is about an unlikely friendship formed between two young men, one black and one white, who meet because of their shared love of basketball. It follows LeBron James’ time on the Cavs, so we watch the delightful, fraught, hilarious and painfully human development of their friendship over the years. It is truly one of the best plays about friendship — specifically male friendship — I’ve ever encountered.

DJ: What would you say about “King James” to someone who has little or no knowledge of basketball?

GS: It absolutely does not matter if you are a basketball fan or not. Basketball is the backdrop for the show, but the themes of the play are universal. It is about friendship, community, belonging and so much more than basketball. If you are an ardent basketball fan, like Jeffrey Lo, my partner on the Artistic Team of TheatreWorks and our basketball consultant on this project, you will appreciate the deep knowledge of the sport and connect with the play on a different level, but the genius of the play is that it invites everyone in and it is a story told for everyone.

“King James” runs Oct. 9 to Nov. 3 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. 500 Castro St. in Mountain View. For tickets or information about special events connected with the performances, contact theatreworks.org, (877) 662-8978 or boxoffice@theatreworks.org.

Susan Cohn is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the American Theatre Critics Association. She may be reached at susan@smdailyjournal.com.