Learn more about our fabulous playwrights, and then join us at the Prescott Center for the Arts in Prescott, AZ this Thurs, Sat and Sunday (Aug 6, 8, 9) for the OUTSIDE THE LINES Festival! Tickets Available HERE
Last year Sharon Goldner sent us a hilarious short play about sperm. This year, we’re producing her hilarious play about a woman and her vagina. To say that Sharon has tuned in to what is apparently my personal preference for “body” humor is an understatement. Of course, she writes lots of other things too – her short play The Costume was also a semi-finalist this year. Basically, people should know about this enthusiastic and talented writer who continues to make us laugh and think and cheer! DOWN THERE is directed by Tiffany Antone and stars Angela Bryan and Amber Bosworth.
LBDI: Why did you decide to submit your work to this year’s ONSTAGE Project?
SHARON: I submitted to this year’s Onstage Project because I am a repeat customer; that is, my play Little Swimmers, was in last year’s line-up. Little Black Dress INK loves & appreciates its playwrights. It is a class act all the way.
LBDI: Describe your writing space…
SHARON: My writing space … hmm. I mull a lot. Ideas are all over the place in my brain. At some point my brain tells me that this mulling thing I’ve got going is suspiciously crossing the line into procrastination, & I know it is time to go to my favorite couch, wrap myself in my favorite blanket (Baltimore Ravens blanket; sorry fans of other teams), take pen & paper in hand, and let my brain I.V. drip every line of dialogue down to my arm and through my pen in hand, and onto the paper. Miraculously, a first draft is born!
LBDI: If you could be any literary character, who would you be?
SHARON: If I could be any literary character I would have to be Scout, from To Kill A Mockingbird; Curious George on days when I don’t shave my legs.
LBDI: What was your first play titled/about?
SHARON: I wrote my first play when I was maybe nine or ten years old, and it was an adaptation of a Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale. I do not remember which one. I hand-wrote it on looseleaf paper, and bound it with yarn. This process was repeated until I had enough scripts to give out to the kids in the neighborhood. It turned out that everyone had a part (I was such an altruistic child!) so there was no one left to be in the audience.
LBDI: Which theatricians do you admire and what about them inspires you?
SHARON: The theatrician I most admire is Tiffany Antone. Seriously. She is just about the coolest theater chick in the universe, & I am proud to be the founding member, and president, of her fan club. I have never met a theater professional as giving, caring, &
beautiful as this incredibly talented lady.
LBDI: Why do you write for theatre? (as opposed to other written mediums…)
SHARON: I write for theater because I enjoy putting words in other people’s mouths. And, I think it is the purest medium around. And hearing the audience’s laughter fulfills me so.
LBDI: What message would you put in a fortune cookie?
SHARON: The message I would put in a fortune cookie would be: Help! They are making me work in a fortune cookie factory & my fingers are numb from sticking tiny slips of paper into tiny slits in cookies.
LBDI: Morning, Noon, or Night?
SHARON: Why, night is the best time, of course. That’s when all the monsters come out to play.
More about Sharon:
Sharon Goldner is in love with the alphabet. She learned early on that she has a knack for manipulating the alphabet into doing whatever she wants, like making phrases, sentences, and dialogue. This made no sense to a variety of gym teachers Sharon had through the years; all they wanted her to do was climb a rope. The funny thing? Upon graduating college, no prospective employers ever asked if she could climb a rope. Anyway, Sharon took her love for manipulating the alphabet and turned it into plays. Nineteen theaters from Off Broadway to California (and all in-between) have proven to Sharon that the whole rope climbing business doesn’t matter because thus far, there have been 28 productions of her work; publications of her plays; awards; and one fellowship in Canada, where Sharon was one of only three playwrights chosen for the honor, world-wide. So right about now Sharon wants to say, “Take that, gym teachers!” But she’s too nice to say it, so she’ll just think it.
