We were lucky to catch up with Dean Bruggeman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dean, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My 2009 play “Memory Grove” holds the most special place in my heart, even now in 2023 after the many, many other projects that have followed.
The concept of “’til death do us part” had always fascinated me. Five little words with such massive import. Two people committing to each other for the rest of their lives has, of course, been a cornerstone of our culture’s traditional marriage vows, yet contemporary divorce rates have long-reflected the reality that growing old together may not be in the cards for any given marriage.
In my twenties and thirties, I knew legal marriage wasn’t in my future; I had learned to live with society’s sociopolitical limitations surrounding my rights as a gay man. Fortunately, my passivity was overridden by untold numbers of LGBTQ+ activists whose dedication paved the way to marriage equality for Californians in June 2008. My partner, John, and I happily joined the wave of more than 18,000 gay couples statewide and celebrated our wedding in October (Best! Day! Ever!), mere weeks before Proposition 8 halted that historic progress until 2013.
So after my wedding to the man with whom I’d spent the past seven years of my life, I found myself consumed with concepts and ideas surrounding legal and spiritual commitment and it led directly to creative immersion in my next play, “Memory Grove.” While formulating the thematic elements surrounding the idea that we marry not only our spouse but also our fate, I set out to dramatically explore four marriages separated by circumstance and geography, with the intention of capturing the universality of those five little words that simultaneously represent many possible scenarios but the same inevitable outcome.
And I couldn’t shake the news stories involving Laci Peterson and Lori Hacking. Years earlier I had followed, and been devastated by, their highly-publicized deaths: Laci in Modesto, CA in 2002 and Lori in Salt Lake City in 2004. Each young woman was murdered by her husband without the slightest awareness she should fear the person to whom she had entrusted her heart and her future. ’Til death do us part, indeed; contemplating these unfathomable betrayals, I zeroed in on the fact that sometimes we unwittingly seal our own tragic fate by marrying the wrong person.
“Memory Grove” was named a semifinalist in the 2012 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference. It was a finalist in the 2013 New Works @ The Works Playwriting Competition at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, and has been presented in professional readings in Los Angeles, Memphis and Bend, Oregon. I’m currently adapting it as a novel.
The play is dedicated to Laci Peterson (1975-2002) and Lori Hacking (1976-2004).
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My production company is Boys with Dogs Productions LLC, which I formed in 2019 with my producing partner, John L. Johnson, to create original content for the internet and the stage. I’ve been a writer and an actor my whole life, and I grew up in St. Petersburg, FL knowing I would pursue a creative career as an adult. While flying with TWA as a flight attendant in the mid- to late-’80s, I tried New York City on for size but discovered that I needed a quieter, less chaotic environment in order to thrive, and L.A. was the perfect fit.
The Boys with Dogs mission is to develop projects that entertain and enlighten while giving the audience some laughs and tears…just like life. I’d have to say what I’m most proud of is that we strive to create a positive, fun creative experience for the artists with whom we collaborate. So far, so good.
Our latest project is the web series “You Slay Me.” Season one can be found on the “You Slay Me” YouTube channel. We hope you’ll check it out!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Oh boy, that’s an easy one: it’s having the freedom to create as a writer with no rules whatsoever. That may sound counterintuitive to someone who’s not a writer. But the most gratifying thing about being a writer, for me, is that the parameters within which a writer creates in any given medium are actually guidelines, not rules. With few exceptions (such as television writing), “rules” were made to be broken, and that’s often where creativity soars to its highest. Are you writing a screenplay and you want a character (or all of them) to address the audience? Write direct-to-camera moments! No, it’s not the norm but it can be a fascinating creative choice and make your script more unique. Writing a novel or short story but unsure which narrative approach to take? Use first person AND second person AND third person, omniscient AND/OR limited omniscience! Write stream of consciousness! You’re free to use any and all tools in every literary toolbox you can find or think of! When working in a medium of fiction, writers are limited in their storytelling only by their imagination, and that holds true for decisions related to style, tone, narration, plotting, character arcs and structure. I have found this freedom especially exhilarating in my work as a playwright, because the stage is where I’m most at home as a writer, and the theater is my church.
I guess what I’m basically saying is that, since at my core I’m a storyteller more than anything else, I cherish the fact that I get to express myself to the best of my abilities every time I step up to the plate (oh, and I’m a baseball fan). For me, there’s nothing more rewarding than having my creative process driven purely by my literary voice.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
When I was 37, I was dating someone who was successful in the health and wellness field. The good news was he supported the arts in general and had lots of friendships with creatives. The bad news was he had absolutely no interest in gaining insight into the reasons artists struggle to pursue their craft when success doesn’t easily fall into place, and in fact smugly equated success wholly with the accumulation of wealth. When he said to me (and I quote), “I don’t know, I just think that if I wasn’t successful at something by the time I was 37 I would find something else to do.”
So yes, to anyone who might question an artist’s life or career choices, I would say this: I was born to pursue my creative aspirations, and I would wish for you the same passion on your journey that I have found on mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: deanfarellbruggeman.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woofusluckyphilo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dean.bruggeman/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-bruggeman-53b4761a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAXN9N4YtyWMDEcgyThsjxQ