"Best If Used By" a new play by Doug Brendel

Disclaimer: Unedited AI Transcription

Announcer (00:06):

You are connected and you are listening to specifically for seniors, the podcast for those in the Remember When Generation. Today's Podcast is available everywhere you listen to podcasts and with video at specifically for seniors YouTube channel. Now, here's your host, Dr. Larry BarscBarshh.

Larry (00:39):

This message comes from specifically for senior sponsor snoozer.com. That's S N E W ss e r.com, the UpToDate news site for older adults. Stay current with all the news with just one click@snoozer.com.

New Speaker (01:05):

We have a special treat for you today on specifically for seniors. We're going to be talking about a new play that's presented by Firehouse Center for the Arts and Ipswich Art Association on October 12th through the 15th 2023 at Firehouse Newburyport. We'll be talking with the playwright, the director, and the two actors about themselves and the play. The playwright is Doug Brenda. Doug is a playwright, novelist, essayist, actor, and speaker. His most recent works include the upcoming world Premier stage comedy best defused by, as well as the humorous multiple award-winning novel, praying for Mrs. Mombasa and the novel Pleasure and power. Doug, welcome to specifically for Seniors.

Doug Brendel (02:07):

Thank you, Larry. Happy to be with you.

Larry (02:09):

It's good to have you on. Hey, Doug. Tell us more about your background. You are an actor by profession?

Doug Brendel (02:18):

No, I'm not an actor by profession. Theater has always just been a hobby for me from first grade in Griffith, Indiana, outside Chicago when I started writing little shows for my friends to do. And then I did I did a lot of theater in high school. I did nine shows in three years and and then community theater for years since then. In fact, that's where my wife and I met. She was directing a show and I auditioned and she cast me, and we fell in love. So, theater's always been in the background. I write for a living. I write fundraising materials for for nonprofits. That's what I've always done for a living.

Larry (03:04):

And being an actor is an exciting sideline.

Doug Brendel (03:11):

Yeah, and I have I have done a lot of stage work and in fact only did theater as an actor for years. But in the last couple of years I've kind of switched back into playwriting and I'm really enjoying it more. It's just this stage of my life, I guess. I started writing Best If used by a year ago new Year's Day. So New Year's Day 2022. And since I finished that and got this and got it underway, I I have written another play which I'm shopping around now. And while I'm shopping that around, I'm working on a third one. So that's the mode I'm in these days.

Larry (04:05):

So tell us about the play Best If used by, what's it all about?

Doug Brendel (04:11):

This is two women in the range of 80 years of age who are both lifetime professional actors. They show up to an audition competing for the same role, and it turns out that they have a personal history with each of them, with the director who has called them to this audition and a personal history together, the two women. So it's all, there's a a, there's a tangle of relationships that unwinds for the audience during this long conversation while the women wait for the audition to begin. A lot of animosity at first, but then it gets more tangled and interesting over the course of more than an hour.

Larry (05:08):

And how does their age play into this?

Doug Brendel (05:12):

Well, the, the play was inspired by these two women who are actually in the show. I worked with Becky Axelrod in a production of Drowsy Chaperone. She had the title role in Hamilton, Massachusetts. And I was very impressed by her energy. By her, I mean, she was belting songs and dancing and all this stuff. And, and, and at her age, it, she was unfazed by these challenges. But over the course of our friendship, she said to me you know, there's just, there aren't many roles for a woman in my age group. Fewer and fewer roles are available. And I thought, you know, that's crummy because she is super talented, and when she's not on stage, it's our loss. And then a couple years later, in a different theater group, I worked with Barbara Bourgeois, and she's even older than Becky, and was in a play about Salem Witch Trials.

Doug Brendel (06:26):

She was one of the accused, and she threw a fit. She had to climb on furniture and crawl around on the floor. And the rehearsals were brutal. The director just had us doing the scene over and over and over, and Barbara was unflappable. She just, we were all exhausted and she was going strong. But over the course of our friendship, she said similarly, you know, they're just not many roles for someone in my age group. And a light kind of went on in my head and I thought, what if I wrote a show for these two talented women? They didn't know each other. So, and I didn't have a story. I just had this vague idea to write a show for them. So I invited them both to lunch, introduced them to each other, and I told them basically what I just told you, that they had inspired me to, to try to write a show for them.

Doug Brendel (07:25):

And did they wanna be involved in the development of the script? And they were both horrified by the idea of being involved in the, you know, the writing. They were like, show us the script. Give us the schedule, you know, workhorses. So I I said I would rearrange my professional schedule. This was two, this was August of 2021, and I said, starting in the new year, I'll take a day a week and I'll work on the play. I don't know how long this will take. I don't know what will come of it. I didn't have a story in mind yet. And I said, I'll just report to you once a month and let you know how it's going. And so that's the, that's the way it began. And 10 weeks later, I had a first draft to show them. And and they liked it.

Doug Brendel (08:15):

And I showed, I showed it to my wife Kristina, who's a very good director, and she said, the five magic words, I want to direct this. So that's how we, how we got it underway. And the story is about these two women who urgently want the same role because there are so few roles available to them, and they have been actors their whole lives. So they've, you, you learn in the course of, over the course of the conversation, that they're, they have felt the, the increasing pressure of of how they're aging is affecting their careers. And the, and their responses to this phenomenon are, you know, a big part of the of the story. But, but I also, I wanted these characters to, to clearly demonstrate to us and remind us that people, as we age, we don't become less human. We don't become, we, we don't love less, we don't feel less, even though society has this tendency to treat aging as some, as diminishing in our humanity. And these women are fighting back against that for a bunch of different reasons. But I'm, I, I have to say, I'm pleased with the, with the punch, the story packs. I feel like we're swinging a big bat against anti elderly discrimination.

Larry (10:00):

So the play is, that

Doug Brendel (10:00):

Was a long answer to a short question, <laugh>.

Larry (10:02):

Oh, no, no, no. Thank you. The play is about the problems we all face with aging and ageism in this society.

Doug Brendel (10:13):

Exactly. Exactly. And and, and it just, it, it helps that the, that the characters in the story are actors because this, the, the fact that they have made their, they've made their living performing gives us a lot of opportunity to explore the, the masks that we put on that society forces us to put on as we age, and how, how we we deal with that. I mean, in that, in, in that line of work, if you're a professional actor, I mean, you're being judged for how you look and move and sound and, and and you're, you're sort of, I guess I would say stuck with, with who and what you are. I mean an 80 year old actor can't play a 25 year old part. So there's, there's all of that stress in that profession. It it, this story because the, because of the characters vocations kind of crystallized these issues more more strongly than if they were, you know teachers or secretaries or something.

Larry (11:37):

So they're really more than actors. They're playing their own lives

Doug Brendel (11:44):

Yeah. In the

Larry (11:45):

Play.

Doug Brendel (11:46):

Yeah, in a way. And, and you know, inevitably these two women lapse into some nostalgia, remembering shows they did together, or like throwing back and forth competing lists of the shows they had done, the roles that they did in the show. They, they, they recount shows that they've done repeatedly in different cities over the years, but playing different roles, because when they first did it 50 years ago, they were the ingenue, and then they were the, the mom, and then they were the alcoholic auntie, and then they were grandma. And, and, you know, expressing some sadness over the, you know, remembering the good old days. But yeah, this is like a, a chronicle of my, of my aging, because I'm playing different roles, the, these different roles necessarily in the same show. <Laugh>,

Larry (12:47):

Let's get a different perspective. I'd like to introduce the show's director and Doug's wife, Kristina Gruman. Kristina has been involved in theater throughout her life, and all that experience has prepared her well for her current positions as our artistic director for Castle Hill Productions, as well as who work for the trustees as cultural programs coordinator at Castle Hill on the crane estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Her passion for the stage and her education in literature have created an urgency to see stories told in compelling ways. Christina, welcome to specifically for Seniors.

Kristina Grundmann (13:34):

Well, thank you for having me.

Larry (13:37):

Was this the first time you directed a play written by your husband?

Kristina Grundmann (13:42):

Well, it's the first full length play. Now we've done sketch drama and comedy in the past, so I've worked with his material before, but this is the fir first full length piece we've done

Larry (13:56):

During the production as directed. Did you always agree with him in the way you were directing his lines? No,

Kristina Grundmann (14:03):

No. <Laugh> as <laugh>

Doug Brendel (14:05):

Bring in the counselor

Kristina Grundmann (14:08):

<Laugh>?

Kristina Grundmann (14:11):

No, we we interpret things differently. The, a script is a, is a we, they, in relating it to music, the playwright is the composer, and he writes a score, and then he hands it to the director who then interprets it through the through the conductor, interprets it through the orchestra, and the, the director, the conductor, will change the sound based on the, the talent or the, the strengths of their, of their or their musicians. And it's the same way in theater, even from Shakespeare to Tom Sto stopper. The, the script is, it's, it's the score, but it has to be interpreted. And every actor, every director interprets it a little bit different. Now, the fact that I happen to be married to the playwright might be complicated except that he does trust me. And if we have a difference in interpretation, well, that's, we have the professional courtesy to say, okay, that's not what I would've done. And we, I have the luxury of saying, I'm gonna rewrite that line <laugh>, and I'm not making any copyright laws because I happen to know the playwright quite well. So it's been, it's convenient in that way that I don't have to argue with, with Shakespeare or with Tom Stopper about whether or not a line read.

Doug Brendel (15:53):

Well, I don't you feel she was just a little too casual throwing that, that line out there, that she's gonna rewrite me. It was like a, I don't think there was adequate acknowledgement.

Larry (16:04):

In other words,

Doug Brendel (16:05):

Pain that she's inflicting

Larry (16:08):

<Laugh>. I didn't think it was gonna go this way. <Laugh>,

Doug Brendel (16:19):

I have witnessed her directing in so many productions over the years, and I really trust her. So if she says, I'm gonna adjust that line, I really don't give it a second thought. I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Larry (16:40):

You can then crush your fingers. Now, <laugh>, we'll take that as truth. The play talks about aging and ageism in that regard. Both actors are in their eighties. Did that present any special problems for you as a director?

Kristina Grundmann (16:59):

No. There's, I was gonna say I do, I can't relate to that specific age yet. But they're e every play is full of characters that I have not lived their life. So it's not that I have to have lived their life to understand them. I'm, I'm at an age, though, where I am starting to face the, hmm, the societal effects of being a mature woman. The, the the invisibility is creeping in, I'm sure your, your listeners or watchers are, are very familiar with that effect of, you know, once you get white hair, you somehow you, you disappear. And so I, I, I understand and I see very clearly how there is, you know Becky Axelrod has actually auditioned for me before, and I've not had enough roles to give to the, the mature women who don't do audition.

Kristina Grundmann (18:00):

There's only so many that I, that are available. I can't, castor is Juliette <laugh>. But so I, under, I, I do, I do understand the environment that this, that the play is invol is exploring the, the women being mature women, not a problem at all. It's the more experience that an actor has had, generally the easier they are to work with because they have more skills, they have more more tools to, to, to to draw on. And so I can say, okay, you've done this and such a show, or you've had this kind of an experience we're gonna use that.

Larry (18:51):

It might be interesting to cast an older actor in the role of Juliet.

Kristina Grundmann (18:59):

Well, you know, it, it's been discussed. We actually did that did come up that, and it has been done where it was it was a a couple in, I don't know whether it's even in a, in a, in a a rehab facility of some sort falling in love and their children didn't like it. But rewriting Rome and Juliet as elder rather than younger.

Doug Brendel (19:25):

And I have heard of a production, I think in Minnesota of the Fantastics, which is a parent's children story, where they cast all of the roles in the show upside down from the ages you expect. And the, the person who saw it raved about it. I can't imagine it. But they said it was great.

Larry (19:52):

Well, being in the over mid eighties, myself I see a lot of people in my generation who are finding new love. And that's why I thought it might be interesting to see if casting that age group, our age group mm-hmm. <Affirmative> in a play that was especially written for younger people would be interesting.

Kristina Grundmann (20:27):

Well, it's always interesting when you take the score and you interpret it radically differently than it was expected. And most theaters enjoy that. And audiences often enjoy the idea that, that the work is true enough that it doesn't matter what the, what the age of, of the of, of the players is, or sometimes the gender. We swap genders o often in, in theater and play. Well, what if the, what if we swap this? How does it play if this, this is played by a man, and this is played by a woman. And the, the idea of, of playing those same games with with age, I think is, is very valid, especially as we are healthy and emotionally strong going into our eighties and nineties. Why not? We're still humans. We're still living. We're not done.

Larry (21:36):

Along those lines, I, my wife and I did see a play, and the premise was what would've happened if instead of it being Adam and Eve, it were Adam and Steve mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, which was an interesting premise. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> you gave the opportunity to two mature actors, and you gave them a vehicle to discuss some of the difficulties they actually face in real life. Do you feel that this is one of the important functions of community theater to be able to do this sort of production?

Kristina Grundmann (22:20):

I think it's a function of all storytelling. Community theater is a, is a wonderful vehicle for <laugh> people we can touch. It's, if, if I, if we gave this show to Helen Marin and Judy Dench, they'd do a fantastic job with it, but it would be out of reach. And in this community, a lot of the people who are gonna come to see the show know Becky and Barbara, and I think it's going to have a lot of impact on those people, in addition to simply being a well-written show, well performed. It's, it's because they'll be, they will see that even in the staged reading. There were some interesting responses from I believe it was Becky's family who were very surprised at some of the things she said about her relationships. And of course it was a character, but the child was saying, well, my mother would never say that. And, you know, she's going, yeah, I know it <laugh>. But to see people that, you know it, it can be quite powerful.

Larry (23:39):

Doug, are the ladies here? Yes. The cast is in the wings. We are so happy to have the stars of the show with us. Doug, I'm going to ask you to do the introductions, please.

Doug Brendel (23:57):

Very well. Let me move out of this spot and put the cast in position. I am happy to introduce Barbara Bourgeois.

Larry (24:11):

Hi Barbara

Doug Brendel (24:12):

Andover, Massachusetts, and Rebecca Axelrod of Essex, Massachusetts. Hi.

Larry (24:18):

Hi, Becky

Rebecca Axelrod (24:18):

. Hi. Nice

Larry (24:19):

To meet. Nice to meet the two of you. Best if Used by is a play about two older actors trying out for the same role, both early for the audition with a director who's late. How close to reality is this play?

Barbara Bourgeois (24:39):

<Laugh> <laugh>?

Larry (24:41):

Well, that answers my question. Thank you. Now, the next

Barbara Bourgeois (24:45):

<Laugh>,

Larry (24:49):

No,

Barbara Bourgeois (24:49):

There are plays out there for all the women, but they're few and far between. I guess at my age, I keep looking for scripts that are appropriate and you don't always find them. So this play is, it's wonderful. I'm really so thrilled to be a part of it.

Rebecca Axelrod (25:15):

Absolutely. Although there are some exceptions. Earlier this year we got to do a parts in a Carol Churchill play, which was also written specifically for elder women. So that was, it's been quite an unusual year, <laugh>, and I look forward to being able to do it fully out. As Doug mentioned, we did a staged reading last year, and so it's, it's been, it's been fun and it rewarding to get to put it on its feet, so to speak.

Larry (25:47):

What's each of your personal takes on aging and ageism?

Rebecca Axelrod (25:59):

Well, I feel very blessed because so far I've, I've escaped some of the health problems that many people are aged. Do I feel really blessed to be, you know, in good health and other than minor things but in, you know, in the culture the play speaks about people seeing through you and, you know, not feeling as though they have to care for you or different reactions from people of different ages. And you know, I do see that in the culture. Of course,

Barbara Bourgeois (26:38):

I agree with Becky. I feel blessed as well. I, I'm, I live alone, take care of my own house. I'm very fortunate to have children that live not too far away tons of friends, and I feel I'm very active. I'm doing my theater or I do artwork. I, so I, I feel at age <laugh> expressing age is a number. Yes, it is. But I think as long as you are able to continue and carry on and you take advantage of whatever is out there for you, I think that's what's important to not let the numbers hold you back. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>

Rebecca Axelrod (27:23):

And be grateful for what you still can do. Exactly. And yeah,

Larry (27:30):

You both graciously and with Doug's permission agreed to perform a couple of minutes from the play. Yes, that would be great. Thank you. The virtual stage is yours.

Doug Brendel (27:45):

We want to explain that this is the very opening scene of the play. They're on a darkened stage in a theater where the audition will take place. One has already arrived and the other arrives presently.

Barbara Bourgeois (28:11):

Okay. Let's have some lights. Huh? Oh god.

Rebecca Axelrod (28:17):

Josephine, you don't have to call me. God, I do believe God may be a woman, but

Barbara Bourgeois (28:24):

Oh, please. I set them up. You knock them down. That's still how it is.

Rebecca Axelrod (28:28):

Of all the things an actor says, walking on stage, you can only come up with, oh God,

Barbara Bourgeois (28:33):

How about, well, well, well, Jacqueline Sturgeon or maybe a fancy meeting you here. How about look what the cat dragged in, or what the hell are you doing here? I like that one the best. What the hell are you doing here, Jackie?

Rebecca Axelrod (28:48):

I guess the same as you auditioning, although I thought he would be here by now. You are here to audition, aren't you?

Barbara Bourgeois (28:54):

As opposed to what

Rebecca Axelrod (28:56):

You are early.

Barbara Bourgeois (28:57):

It's five o'clock. He told me. Five

Rebecca Axelrod (29:01):

Son of a. He told me to come early,

Barbara Bourgeois (29:03):

But you didn't.

Rebecca Axelrod (29:05):

I did. He said early. Come, come early at five.

Barbara Bourgeois (29:09):

Well, great. Who knows how many others will come traipsing in here thinking they're

Rebecca Axelrod (29:14):

Thinking they're what?

Barbara Bourgeois (29:15):

Special. Thinking. They're special.

Rebecca Axelrod (29:18):

This smells. Harry, are you up there? I swear if you're sitting up there on the catwalk in the dark watching us like fools down here. You call

Barbara Bourgeois (29:26):

Him

Rebecca Axelrod (29:26):

Harry. I always called him Harry. Nobody

Barbara Bourgeois (29:28):

Calls him Harry.

Rebecca Axelrod (29:29):

He was always Harry to me. Although he seems to have less hair now, at least on top.

Barbara Bourgeois (29:36):

When did you stop calling him Harry?

Rebecca Axelrod (29:38):

Oh, back in the day. That's

Barbara Bourgeois (29:39):

No answer. Everything

Kristina Grundmann (29:40):

Is, is back in the day,

Rebecca Axelrod (29:42):

You know, in photos in the media. His hair does seem to come and go a bit. I wonder if his people Photoshop everything they can, but they can't quite catch everything that goes out. So sometimes he's more Bruce Springsteen ish, sometimes more. Bruce Willis ish.

Kristina Grundmann (29:59):

Harry, the world knows him as Harrison.

Rebecca Axelrod (30:02):

I knew him, not as the world knows him. Oh,

Kristina Grundmann (30:05):

You are still as full of as ever.

Rebecca Axelrod (30:07):

And you are still as sophisticated as ever.

Larry (30:11):

Becky. Barbara, thank you so much. I'm sure everybody listening is anxious to see the entire production. Thanks for being on specifically answers.

Doug Brendel (30:24):

Thank you, Larry. I appreciate it very much.

Larry (30:28):

What's, what's the message you're trying to get across with the play?

Doug Brendel (30:33):

I think put simply it's that people as they age, retain their value and their dignity, their humanity, and they have important contributions to make to our lives.

Larry (31:00):

Thank you for that. Coming from someone in the generation you're portraying, what, what does the future hold for the play? What would you like to see happen with it?

Doug Brendel (31:14):

I hope we sell out all five performances and <laugh>, and then I plan to shop the script around and Hopely, other theater groups will pick it up and produce it. I'm eager to see what other groups can do with it. I feel like this play makes an important enough statement that I will shamelessly promote it. I think it will do good wherever it gets produced.

Larry (31:49):

Christina?

Kristina Grundmann (31:50):

Yes, I, Doug sounded up awfully well there to see what happens to this show. I think, as you pointed out, there are just hundreds and hundreds of community theaters who have plenty of older actors. And this is a vehicle that could be beautifully used to give, give them o opportunities to talk about their life experience in, in an interest in a, in a, in a fictional way. And to give them an opportunity to perform really good material. Not the, not the sidekick or the, or the, the character or the, or the comic relief, but the gutsy solid character that there, that we've all enjoyed playing in years past. And those characters don't come along very often for those of us who have passed Angenous stage.

Larry (32:58):

Is there anything we missed that you'd like to talk about?

Kristina Grundmann (33:06):

There's nothing on

Doug Brendel (33:07):

My list. I would just say aside from everything else, best diffused by is also a love story. It takes twists and turns that you won't see coming. And so it's, it's about love and loss and both recrimination and reconciliation. It's it's a very human story. It's a bittersweet comedy, but I think it will also be heartwarming.

Larry (33:43):

Tell us again where the show is opening, when it's opening and how to get tickets.

Doug Brendel (33:52):

Firehouse.Org is the website of the Firehouse Center for the Performing Arts. And the show runs October 12 to 15. There are five performances at firehouse.org. If you click on events, you can choose theater, and that's where best if used by we'll show up. Or if you wanna know more about the show, you can actually go to a website at best If Used by show. There's a whole website that also will lead you to tickets, but it gives, it has interviews with the cast and the lovely director and news coverage and so forth.

Larry (34:42):

Doug, Christina, thank you so much for being on specifically for seniors. And if you would, thank Barbara and Becky again for me. I would appreciate it.

Doug Brendel (34:56):

I will. Thank you, Larry. It's been lovely to be with you. Thank

Larry (35:00):

You. It's been great having you guys on.

Announcer (35:05):

If you found this podcast interesting, fun, or helpful, tell your friends and family and click on the follow or subscribe button. We'll let you know when new episodes are available. You've been listening to specifically for seniors. We'll talk more next time. Stay connected.