laughing
through the pain
Playwright, screenwriter, and film/television director Leslye Headland and theatre director Trip Cullman were strangers when they were first paired in 2010 for the NYC premiere of Leslye’s play Bachelorette. Now, 13 years and four major collaborations later, their working relationship has blossomed into an artistic marriage where Trip is Leslye’s self-proclaimed “theatre husband.” Berkeley Rep staff sat down with the power duo to find out what makes their partnership work and discuss the inspiration and approach behind bringing this dark comedy to the stage and the importance of the great American family drama. Below are highlights from the conversation: LESLYE ON THE PLAY’S INSPIRATION The inspiration is my family. I love them very much, and I wrote the play to work out a lot of the things that we didn’t ever get a chance to talk about. I just felt like there were so many things I wanted to say in the moment, but I didn’t know how to. And so, I wrote them many years later. My family was a very musical family. All my siblings and I would play instruments and sing together. I liked the idea of a family drama that was orchestrated and that the dialogue would become like a piece of music that had to be conducted in a way that felt chaotic but was very planned in its execution. So, it’s a difficult play to do, but I think when it’s done right, you get a sense of really being a fly on the wall of what a family gathering is like. 10 | THE BERKELEY REP MAGAZINE
