Suzanne Bachner’s new play, “Conversations with My Divorce Attorney,” will premiere at The New York City Fringe Festival in a limited engagement at the Theater at the 14th Street Y from April 3rd through April 19th. Beauty News NYC‘s exclusive Q&A with Suzanne Bachner covers her show’s inspiration, what she wants audiences to take away from the production, and more!
What prompted you to bring such a personal story to the stage, especially through the unique lens of your relationship with your divorce attorney?
Total compulsion. I wrote the first scene shortly after my first meeting with my divorce attorney, and I could never let it go. That is also a theme of the play: love, loss, and never letting go. I would let this play go numerous times, but I kept returning to it. I knew I had to finish it and tell this story, which is equal parts fact and fiction and all parts authentic and personal.
My divorce attorney told me that getting divorced is like going to a funeral where you’re the only mourner. I found that to be true. Other parties are affected and mourning, but you’re the only one who is mourning your particular loss. The person going through the semi-shared experience was my soon-to-be ex-husband (a term my attorney encouraged me to use), and I was instructed not to have contact with him. So, the experience for me was isolating and lonely. The person closest to me in terms of contact and impact was my lawyer. So, I thought that telling this divorce story was best done by exploring the relationship between me and my divorce attorney, with my once-husband (a term I eventually used) being an off-stage phantom character. That is what it felt like at the time, this dramatic switch, and all of a sudden, I’m involved with this complete stranger who knows everything about me, or at least that’s what it felt like at the time.
How do you balance the authenticity of your own experiences with the creative liberties required to craft a compelling narrative for the stage?
The feelings that I explore in the play, whether they are expressed by our protagonist, “me,” or her divorce attorney, are completely authentic to my experience. The play is pretty much split between two elements: one is the story of her marriage and divorce and the aftermath, and the second is the story of the relationship between the client and her divorce attorney. One of those elements is a pure memoir, very true-to-life experiences and personal history, and the other is inspired by life, but essentially has more traditional dramatized characters and a relationship.
I realized as I was developing the play that I really wanted to explore the aftermath of divorce as well. So, the action continues after the divorce is finalized. The timeline needed to be condensed for urgency and dramatic effect. When I was drafting the play, it seemed to organically settle on 12 scenes which was perfect. The play takes place over the course of a year, which felt just right. Each scene does not correspond to a single month, but the idea of a loss or grief spanning a year’s time felt right. Oftentimes, when we experience loss, it maps to the calendar. We know the exact date of when that loss happened. We mark it on Facebook now (those of us who still use it). You can feel it in the body, the anticipation of that date. I still recall the exact date of my first meeting with my divorce attorney and the date the divorce was finalized (which was six months later – not a big spoiler in a play of what I hope are many surprises). Chris Kateff, our incredible projection designer, used the timeline in his gorgeous design. It shows up in each scene in an almost subliminal way at the clock ticking through the 12 hours of time.
Can you tell us about the process of developing the character of the divorce attorney and how it feels to see your husband, Bob Brader, portray him on stage?
It is funny to me that the love of my life, my now husband, aka husband, Bob Brader, is playing “my divorce attorney.” When we first posted about the play, his wonderful mom kind of freaked out about it when she first saw it.
I have had the good fortune of having some wonderful actors read this play while I have been developing it. The first draft of this play was 299 pages. As this is a two-hander, the two characters really had to develop together in tandem. One cannot progress without the other. The divorce attorney character was inspired by my actual LA lawyer, but much of what I had to explore was what I didn’t know about him. I had to find out why he was distracted in our first meeting, what was driving him, and what was going on in his life. I already knew about “me”. When I brought in our current stellar cast, Kat Nardizzi and Bob Brader, is when that development really took off. They both make spot-on, fascinating, surprising choices, elevate and ground the material at the same time, and bring just the right strength and vulnerability to bear. They also have extraordinary chemistry. We were doing developmental readings of the play on Zoom in the middle of the pandemic, but somehow their connection came across through the screen.
Kat helped me find the inner strength in her character since I was writing from a place of defeat and despair at times, and Bob helped me find the humanity and vulnerability of the divorce attorney – and then they flip throughout the play, so it’s a balance. Because Bob and I were colleagues and friends before we fell in love and got married, I can compartmentalize when working on this: he is the actor playing my divorce attorney and not my husband doing it. I am so excited to see both Kat and Bob on stage telling this story together that is so close to my heart. What they do together is magical, and I’ve only seen a version of it on screen when we did the virtual reading. Our opening, April 3rd, will be the first time I will see it fully realized on stage.
How has the transition from virtual readings to a live stage production impacted the storytelling experience, both for you as the playwright and for the audience?
Creating a play that explores loneliness and isolation, it was no accident that we did such a huge piece of the development and presentation during the pandemic. We were never in the same room together while we made it. We did a couple of private Zoom readings with the audience off mute to hear the reaction. Our projection designer, Chris Kateff, then created a stunning, immersive video design for the show. Ellen Ritter was our wonderful narrator for our reading, guiding the audience through the story. That process led us to make a recorded virtual reading that we premiered on Broadway On Demand, followed by a live talkback with our core team and Dan Siegler, who wrote the original song “Maybe” in the reading, and Deanna Kirk, who sings it. So, we had a balance of pre-recorded and live.
People responded so strongly and positively to the virtual reading that we knew we had to stage it. Once we had our opportunity to present it on stage at the New York City Fringe, we went into high gear in development, and the play really took off in rewrites knowing that Kat and Bob could fully embody these characters, Chris’s projection design could live and progress more completely on the massive screen at the 14th Street Y, and we would tell the story in fully dimensional ways. Of course, there are all sorts of delicious design elements that are being added and impact the story, from John Tees III’s fantastic lighting design to Dan Siegler’s new original song that he composed for this show. So, the transfer from the virtual screen to the stage allows us to tell the story in a full-bodied way. The live performance will also be available everywhere to be live-streamed at home, so the show remains accessible.
Music plays a significant role in the play, especially with the incorporation of Deanna’s song “Maybe.” Can you share more about the significance of music in shaping the narrative and emotional landscape of the play?
I love the music in the play, and it has a special personal significance. The kismet-y thing about the way the music came to the play is that the music didn’t inform the play as much as it resonated with it and enhanced it. To me, it’s as if the song was written for the play, but the amazing thing is that the song, “Maybe” was written by Dan Siegler and performed by Deanna Kirk years before it. The connection is that “Maybe” was written and recorded at the exact same time that I had first met my first husband. He used to hang out at Deanna’s legendary East Village music club, Deanna’s, and write poetry at the bar. We were looking for a Deanna song to use, and we zeroed in on “Maybe.” It had the perfect sound that synced with Chris’ brilliant transitions. Dan’s lyrics were so connected to the play: “Thank you for letting me go,” and as sung by Deanna, is absolutely haunting. Dan’s new song is pure fun and has most definitely shaped the choreography in one of our scenes.
What message or insight do you hope audiences will gain from “Conversations with My Divorce Attorney”?
I want audiences to have a great time experiencing the show, and to go on the rollercoaster ride with us and with these two characters. I want them to laugh, feel, care, and be surprised. After they leave, I would love this play to linger with them. The message I hope they get is that you can go through brutal emotional times where you feel lonely, isolated, and hopeless, but that no matter what, you are never truly alone. There is always someone out there who you can connect with, maybe someone unexpected who you never thought you could share yourself with during a challenging moment of life.
See Suzanne Bachner’s new play, “Conversations with My Divorce Attorney,” at The New York City Fringe Festival at the Theater at the 14th Street Y from April 3rd through April 19th. Get tickets HERE.
