IN OTHER WORDS
PLAYWRIGHT,
ACTRESS
& DIRECTOR
DANI STOLLER WORDS BY KAYLA MARSH New York native Dani Stoller is a perfect combination of heart, hustle and talent. The playwright, director and actress is still finding ways display her creativity in the D.C. theater scene during Covid-19, including her show Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes, which Signature Theatre streamed in March and April, and Round House Theatre’s new web series Homebound, which launched on April 27. Amid the craziness of the pandemic, we caught up with Stoller and talked about her work, her dreams and some of her favorites via rapid-fire questions. District Fray: Tell us about the work you’re doing with Round House and what that process looks like from home. Dani Stoller: I’m writing for Round House and they awesomely commissioned 10 playwrights to each write an episode of Homebound, based on people’s lives during the pandemic. Actors film themselves and [Round House] edits it. It’s totally free but keeps the actors who lost work at Round House paid. That’s really f--king special and cool. I feel like you have all this professional experience, and are still so young. I was very lucky I have supportive parents – not everybody can say that. They were like, “If this is what you’re going to do, then f--k it.” That was key – having people foster my dream. What do you love about working in D.C.? I love this area specifically because you can do so much. I can assistant direct shows, I can work as a playwright, there’s so much room to play. There’s great f--king work and that’s been really exciting, that I can continuously work at these incredible theaters with incredible artists and also work on my own projects on the side. 54 | MAY 2020
How do you hope other theater professionals view your work? I’d hope they view me as daring and vulnerable, and somebody who’s on their side. Especially the women. The shows I write are generally based on messy women. My hope is you leave judging yourself a little bit less, or maybe with a new idea of how you should view someone else. Honest, not overly saccharine. Was there a recent point in your career when you felt like you’d made it and this is where you want to be? I remember the first time I did a show at the Folger, I was working with Aaron Posner, who every artist knows as an incredible artist, writer and director. I was so floored, and that was a moment where I was like, “Wow I can do this [solely].” In terms of writing, it was when Joe Calarco, the head of SigWorks at Signature, took me under his wing and became an incredible mentor and friend. He said, “Hey, this play you’ve written, we want to do a workshop with it.” Holy shit, that’s the coolest thing that could ever happen. It was at the Folger f--cking [Theatre]. My heart flipped into my butt. How do you stay inspired to keep writing? How do you have to alter that during this crazy time? Usually, when I’m in the zone, I will wake up in the middle of the night. I get up and write from 2 to 6 a.m. because my head will just be like, “Bdddahahapopbop.” Now that my schedule is lighter, I’m like, “Holy shit. Am I never going to work again? Is this how it’s going to be?” I set up a writing duo with my friend [on video calls], we just write, and if we need some help, Photo by Michael Kushner.
