We were lucky to catch up with John Patrick Bray recently and have shared our conversation below.

John Patrick, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I started performing in elementary school. I remember my twin brother – Gregg Bray – and I played Minutemen in a patriotic review in fourth grade at Highland High School. There were three of us, and I remember the middle guy, Chris Timko, accidentally aimed his musket at my brother during the song. Gregg ducked, and it got a laugh from the audience. We really got a kick out of that. We had performed in other shorts and vignettes earlier, but that response from the audience gave us an amazing feeling. It was something we wanted to experience again.

We also had our first video camera in 1984 and made some ridiculous Star Wars adventures, with costumes and action figures. It was a hoot. So, the impulse was there from early on.

When I was in high school, I took a class at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie and ended up writing a short film, also with Gregg. The film was made into a short, but the script was full-length. We developed it into a play which the Programming Board at DCC produced in 1996 (huge thanks to Mike Weida). The play, which we called Foul Feast (and which we’ve made revisions), was published by Next Stage Press earlier this year (with thanks to Gene Kato!). Once I had the bug, I was hooked. I studied theatre and took a bunch of creative writing classes at SUNY New Paltz, later at The Actors Studio Drama School at The New School (Cohort VII), and finally at Louisiana State University, where I earned a doctorate in theatre studies.

Along the way I had incredible teachers that encouraged me to enter the academy. I remember Steve Press, my teacher at DCC, telling me “When you teach theatre, you do theatre twenty-four hours a day.” That sounded like heaven.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Born in Jersey (I still have the accent; it’s hard to lose), raised in upstate New York, and I’ve been living in The South the better part of sixteen years. I think I’ve already covered my education – from high school to doctoral work. I have been writing plays for almost thirty years and have found homes for most of my work. I have also written an independent feature film (Liner Notes – available on Amazon) and a couple of shorts (Barflies, which premiered at the 2021 Horror Realm Con; and Escapism, which is in post-production). I have worked with publishing houses as an editor and in script acquisition. I have also served as a judge for a number of awards and contests.

I am also a dramaturg specializing in new plays and new play development (and at times, screenplays). When a writer approaches me with a script, I have a series of questions I ask having to do with where the writer is in their journey, and what specific questions they’re trying to solve in their script. I will then write down what I believe the story is that the writer is telling, as well as any key themes, genre(s), etc. But before I tell the writer my experience of reading their script, I ask them to tell me their story. Sometimes, they’ll tell me a story that is simply not in their pages, so I’ll act as a sounding board. Sometimes, the story is exactly what they want to tell and we’ll focus on the overall experience.

Finally, I did follow Professor Press’s advice and I am now an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Georgia, where I am beginning my time as Graduate Coordinator. I also teach our dramatic writing classes and serve as the area head for undergraduate playwriting.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a theatre artist is being able to work with folks that speak a common theatrical language. It feels like another world that’s vulnerable, nourishing, and exciting. Whether working as a playwright or as a dramaturg, I love being engaged with new ideas and new worlds. Discovery is key.

I also wanted to mention how much I appreciate that we have continued to survive, and in some ways thrive (artistically, not financially) during the pandemic. Thanks to the miracles of Modern Technology, artists have been able to collaborate all over the world and create theatre for online platforms. We have a new taxonomy that is still being developed, nourished, and in some ways, codified. There is even an award for Online Theatre – the Young-Howze Theatre Award, created by Ricky Steven Young-Howze and Dana Young-Howze. I am currently putting together a group of plays written specifically for online theatre for Applause Theatre and Cinema Books (tentatively titled Stage It, Stream It! Plays for Virtual Theatre). The book is slated to be published in April 2023 and I can’t wait for you all to read these wonderful plays!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

What we need for a thriving creative ecosystem is more public support: in general, we need financial and community support in the arts and humanities which are often the first items on the budgetary chopping block. I feel that there is a lot of lip service as to why arts and literature, teaching and performing, are all important to the overall health of a community, but we don’t see a lot of action from our political leaders regardless of their affiliation. That truly needs to change. The humanities teach us what it means to be human, the arts teach us how and why we should communicate with others. Playwright Paula Vogel once said something along the lines of “the role of theatre is to make us comfortable with being uncomfortable with each other,” and I can’t stress how much that notion resonates with me. I believe the arts have the ability to heal the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.johnpatrickbray.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jpbplaywright/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-patrick-bray-4511741a6/
• Other: https://newplayexchange.org/users/4173/john-patrick-bray