�orida studio theatre Ben Mackel, Hunter Brown, Eric Scott Anthony. Photo by Matthew Holler.
“Audiences are rocking out and singing along”
Hilton Head Island, 1985. Study by Joe Bowler for an oil portrait.
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Engaging”
“Touching”
-Sarasota Herald-Tribune
-Sarasota Magazine
Gil Brady and Claire Warden. Photo by Matthew Holler.
by John Patrick Shanley
“Tender” -Sarasota Herald-Tribune
by Aaron Posner, based on the novel by Chaim Potok
“Soulful and touching” -New York One
“Beautiful” -New York Daily
MARCH 7 - 27
366-9000 �oridastudiotheatre.org
Richard Hopkins, Producing Artistic Director 1241 N. Palm Avenue, Downtown Sarasota
98
SCENE
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March 2016
I thought I was going to be an academic. Well, they put out a call for a list of all the publications of the graduate assistants of which of I was one of 125, or something like that. I turned in a sheet listing a number of my pulp magazine stories. The person in charge of the program called me into his office and asked me to close the door. He told me what they were really interested in was PMLA – Publications of the Modern Language Associations. I didn’t know. I was disabused of being an academic. I didn’t want to get stuck with a second language. I was a wretched language student as an undergraduate. I might have stayed an academic if they didn’t have the language requirement obstacle in front of me. You’re considered one of the most respected authors of historical fiction. What is the secret to your formula? I start out with the old rule that most commercial writers or good writers do, and that’s to tell a good story. You’ve got to have the story. I got interested in history when I started writing the Bicentennial Series in 1974 after years of doing all sorts of things. (The Bicentennial Series is eight novels known as The Kent Chronicles.) Back then, I made a pledge to myself that if I ever carried this on, I would try to make the historical angle as authentic as possible. There was a movie years ago in which General Custer was kind of an apologist for slavery. That stuck in my mind. And I thought that’s not the kind of history I want to convey. If I tell anybody about it, it ought to the most truthful way I could find of telling the story. I’ve always stuck with this when writing historical fiction. Tell a good story and don’t falsify the record. Many people want to be writers or think they are writers. What has been the most difficult thing about your profession? Trying to make money. What part has been the easiest or brought you the most joy? Having a worldwide audience, which I never had until the novels were published around the world. Television kicked them off too and helped a great deal.