We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Justin Elizabeth Sayre. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Justin Elizabeth below.

Hi Justin Elizabeth, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you identified some of your key partners/vendors and how you made those relationships work?

I think at the corner of all my work has been a sense of community. Bringing people together to laugh, to cry, to share an experience. But looking at the patterns in how I’ve made my work, I see a strong pull toward community there as well. This show, Lottie Platchett Took a Hatchet, is no different. Jessica Hanna was one of the first artistic friends I made in Los Angeles, and we’ve made I think five or six shows together at this point. She was also the director of Ravenswood Manor in 2019 at the Celebration Theatre and my play Three Little Girls Down a Well this year at The Public Theatre in New York. Tom Detrinis has become a great friend since working on Ravenswood Manor as well. We made a series of nine plays during the pandemic with Dynasty Typewriter, and now one more with Lottie. Ryan Garcia has been a stalwart of my work for the past three years, appearing in almost everything I’ve written. We should all be so lucky to have a Ryan. Tom Lenk is a comedic genius who I’ve been working with on various plays, and now have found a real muse here in Lottie. And Kirsten Vangness is honestly such a joy and a brilliant comedic actress. It is a privilege to share the stage with her. They all came as friends, or recommendations from other brilliant friends, but all with the caveat, “Who is someone great and great to work with?”You build a home where you feel safe and supported as an artist. I’m lucky to have a home with these artists.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Justin Elizabeth Sayre (they/them) and I’m a writer and comedian. I’ve written books, plays, and television and continue to make work in all three of these mediums. I really started on my path by creating my comedy/variety show, The Meeting, which ran in New York for nine years. It was the longest-running LGBTQ variety show in New York. That show led to opportunities to write my series of YA novels, HUSKY, PRETTY, and MEAN, all published by Penguin Books, as well writing on 2 Broke Girls with Michael Patrick King. I’ve created solo shows at La Mama Experimental Theatre in New York and The Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2019, I created my episodic Horror-Camp-Soap-Opera, Ravenswood Manor, which I am currently adapting for television. My solo shows on Gay Culture have also been released as a book, FROM GAY TO Z, by Chronicle Books. My play, Three Little Girls Down a Well, was part of the 2023 Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theatre. I am currently working on a new novel and two plays.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think a big part of my work is dedicated to intergenerational conversations. I grew up in the midst of the AIDS crisis, and as a queer artist in the modern age, I very deeply feel the loss of so many of the captivating artists and mentors taken by that horrible disease. My work is a link to the worlds of ridiculous satire of Charles Ludlam, Charles Bush, and John Waters, taking this heightened comedic art form in new directions, exploring gender, sexuality, social norms, and respectability politics in a world taking itself far too seriously. At the corner of all of my work is a desire to make people laugh. To expel our demons through laughter, and make our fears small and ludicrous as they should be. It’s a desire to laugh at the world and perhaps dream of a better one.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Permission. So many wonderful artists have set the stage for me to dream, and I hope that in my way, I’ve allowed other artists to dream of their own work. We open the paths for travelers we may never know. That’s the great privilege of being an artist. Opening up the world for my audience and readers and in turn perhaps making a path for another artist to take their own space in the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @justinelizabethsayre
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justin.sayre.96/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OrderofSodomites

Image Credits
Pink dress – Austin Ruffer Brown Dress – LA LGBTQ Center Red – La MAMA Green – Celebration Theatre Gay Street – Matthew Dean Stewart Stars – Matthew Placek