April 24, 2024

an interview with Roman á clef playwright:
chandler hubbard

What inspired you to write Roman á Clef?

 I was hired to write a touring play for school age children about human trafficking. This is not that play. Roman á Clef came about as a response to trying to adapt such heavy material for kids, how to convey the gravity of it while still making it palatable.

Roman á Clef tells a story about telling a story. And it still has echoes of the factors that contribute to human trafficking - the cyclical nature of violence; how silence reinforces said violence; how secondary trauma can be just as debilitating as primary trauma; how abuses of power are allowed on both individual and institutional levels. 

How did you approach the development process for this play during the TNT New Play Incubator?

Writing is a pretty lonesome activity. Luckily writing for theatre oftentimes comes with a built-in communities. The TNT Incubator is not how I usually work - my first drafts often come in a more “bolt out of bed in the middle of the night and maniacally type until noon” kind of style. The year long process has really allowed me to simmer those creative juices, to allow myself to leave and come back (and leave and come back). Roman á Clef is a very different play than it was one year ago (and a very different play than it was four years ago). 

The term "roman á clef" refers to a novel in which real people or events appear with invented names. How does this concept play out in the show?

There’s a show-within-a-show and a show-within-a-show-within-a-show and then there’s a show-without-a-show. It’s a little Alice in Wonderland/Looking Glass, it’s a little Black Mirror, it’s a little Everything Everywhere All At Once, it’s a little Six Characters in Search of An Author, it’s a little none of those things. I hope audiences will play along. The actors certainly will. 

What challenges did you face in bringing this world premiere play to life?

I like to use a lot of words. Audiences don’t like sitting for four hours. Sacrifices must be made. 

Are there any particular characters in the play that you feel a personal connection with?

 Surprisingly, not the playwright character. There’s a little bit of me in all of them but I’m probably closest in humor and temperament to the characters of Spawn (Reese Bucher) and Fiona (Donna Marie Miller). Don’t tell them I said that. 

What do you hope audiences will take away from Roman á Clef after seeing the production?

Storytelling is an art; telling our stories makes an artist of all of us. It’s not always easy and it's not always fun, but it's our responsibility as artists and as people to tell our stories as best we can, for as long as we can.