When Murray [Mednick] wrote "Charles' Story" in 2008, it was clear that "The Gary Plays" had reached a natural conclusion, and the idea of mounting them all together began to present itself as something inescapable. In 2015, Tim Habeger of PushPush Theatre in Atlanta and I began to talk this through -- PushPush had produced many of Murray's plays over the years, including the second production of "Tirade for Three," and was a strong ally. In the summer of 2015, a group of us travelled to Atlanta to begin the process of putting them all together. John Diehl had moved to Nashville, Tennessee so it was easy for him to join us, and along with Murray and I- Hugh Dane, Peggy Blow, Christopher Rivas and Laura Ligouri made the trip from L.A. and worked intensively with Habeger and Shelby Hofer for about ten days, with plans to continue as budget and schedules allowed. The first step was a public workshop production of "Charles' Story" the following spring in Los Angeles, a marvelous production that managed also to underscore the additional challenge of making the bi-coastal partnership function adequately given the demands of the material. Thinking things through, I began to consider a local home for the project and instantly thought of Martha Demson and The Open Fist Theatre Company, where I had developed my play "The Black Glass" in 2013. I have known the Fist's work since the 1990s, and have always admired the company's adventurous spirit and general stage chops, so it was an easy call to make. Martha was excited about some recent opportunities that had opened up for the company and instantly thought a version of "The Gary Plays" might be an ideal project...and here we are.
- Guy Zimmerman
(director of "The Gary Plays")
