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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Spotlight On...Jonathan A. Goldberg

Name: Jonathan A. Goldberg

Hometown: Hawthorne, NJ

Education: BA, Gallatin, NYU ; MFA, Tisch, NYU

Favorite Credits:
Land Whale Murders, Luck of the Ibis (Shelby Company); Winner of the 2013 Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival In Process Short Play Festival; Winner of the 2011 L Magazine Pocket Fiction Contest

Why theater?: Theater is a communal medium and I love collaborating with other artists and talent.  When you create a work for  the stage both the audience and players are working together to create the show.  We are all creating the show together and it’s immediate and powerful.  It’s exciting.

Tell us about Real Dead Ghosts?:
Real Dead Ghosts tells the story of a young married couple who think a trip to a secluded cabin will help repair their relationship.  Amber is overworked and trying to keep her past away, while her husband Graham an amateur ghost hunter is obsessed with the past.

What inspired you to create Real Dead Ghosts?:
It would be fun to create a modern day ghost story where there might not be any ghost involved.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I enjoy all sorts of theater.  Some of my favorite works are by: Charles Ludlam, Tony Kushner, Carol Churchill, and many many others.  I want to create unique and challenging works for the stage that are both entertaining and challenge us.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: There are so many people I’d love to work with.  I love Everett Quinton and would love to work with him on something.  We’ve talked about it but I’d love to make it happen.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I really enjoyed the Julie Taymor Midsummer Night’s Dream at Theater For a New Audience and I’m very excited about Irma Vep at RedBull I would recommend that show anytime even not having yet seen this version.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Me?  Maybe a rock with googly eyes in some sort of stop motion adventure.  It’d probably be called something like "Rock This Way" or "Stone Cold Something".  It would probably be more interesting than my actual life.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Buffalo wings.

What’s the most played song on your iPod?: Something by Sleater-Kinney probably.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Unemployed.

What’s up next?: We are going to take Real Dead Ghosts to the Toronto and Montreal Fringe this summer.