A Virtual Cup of Coffee with Noah Haidle '97
Noah Haidle is a playwright and screenwriter whose work has been produced on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, and around the world. Haidle’s plays have been performed in Mexico, Sweden, Germany, Greece, Finland, New Zealand, Argentina, Norway, Latvia, Israel, Austria, Serbia, and Denmark. For the 2017-18 season, he was playwright-in-residence at the National Theater of Mannheim, Germany, a position first held by Friedrich Schiller in 1785. Noah is a graduate of Princeton University and The Juilliard School and lives with his lovely wife, Kelsey, and their perfect son, Butch.
You can only have one: Rose’s caramel corn, an ice cream cone from Jersey Junction, or a Yesterdog. Which do you choose? Yesterdog, without question. If nothing else than to see a picture of my friends in front of the Acropolis during a Latin class trip to Greece. (It's on the wall in the back room right near the bathrooms if you want to go looking for it).
What was your path from East Grand Rapids to where you are now in life?
I went to Princeton, got a master's degree in playwrighting at Juilliard, and had a lot of good luck (and a lot of bad luck, too. Although I'm not sure I believe in luck, or freewill, for that matter, which would mean my path from East Grand Rapids to right now to the end of the universe is already written. But that's probably a little intense for an online coffee meet-up, no? Maybe if we go out to online dinner I'll elaborate).
What specific thing did you learn in East that has enabled you to be successful?
Eschewing the attempt to be one of the cool kids leaves you energy to pursue authenticity.
What were you like in school?
Nerdy and athletic: I was first chair of the tuba section and captain of the tennis team. After my first play opened off-Broadway the Grand Rapids Press printed an article with the headline, "Tennis Star Writes Play."
Did you have a favorite teacher or class?
Gregory Carnevale, my Latin teacher. (If you're reading this, Becky Knack, don't get mad and please see the answer to the following question). Mr. C took members of our Latin Class to Italy after my freshman year and to Greece after my junior year (remember, the photo in Yesterdog is across from the first set of booths in the back room). Those trips abroad allowed space in my mind to imagine a world outside of home.
If you had to choose one moment in one location to serve as the signature moment of your East school experience, what would it be?
Reading "Death of a Salesman" in Mrs. Knack's English class (It will never feel totally comfortable calling her Becky but she insists and it's been almost three decades since I graduated so I should just get over it) and saying to myself, "I'm going to write plays, too." I watched Mrs. Knack (see what I mean?) read my first twenty page play, dubiously titled "Epistrophy." After closing the last page she looked up and told me I should keep going. If Becky (I did it!) had said, "Sorry, kid, maybe stick with the tuba," this online coffee might be of quite a different nature.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
The same thing I wish I knew now: relax, there's no rush, the future will arrive quickly enough, look at all the things in your life that would've felt like miracles to your younger self.
Do you stay in touch with many people from East Grand Rapids?
Some close friends. And Becky Knack. (I did it again!)
What advice do you have for young East alums who are just starting out?
"Bend your knees. Nobody cares." My stoner neighbor uttered these prescient words as I prepared to hit an iron shot out of a bunker on a public golf course and I believe the advice applies to every aspect of life. Bend your knees: relax but focus. Nobody cares: the content of your dreams and their fruition aren't of concern to anyone but you. Which means you're free.
Who else would you like us to have a virtual cup of coffee with?
Sophocles, but that's going to be difficult.
Bonus question: What are you glad we didn’t ask you about?
"Do you have an unresolved crush on your lab partner from Mrs. Jones' sophomore year chemistry class?"(The answer would have been yes.)
To see more Virtual Cup of Coffee alumni interviews, visit the Alumni Profiles page on our website.
