Name: Lucas Hnath
Hometown: Orlando, Florida.
Which play do you wish you’d written? It’s a toss-up: Blue Kettle by Caryl Churchill or Mud by Maria Irene Fornes.
6 words to describe your play? Funhouse mirror-maze of half-truths
Favourite character in your play and why? Maxine. She’s sharp and quick and brutal and smart. Insatiable too.
What does the title mean? “Death Tax” is a euphemistic name for the “Estate Tax.” The term was coined to make people angry about the prospect of such a tax.
Where do you write? Either at New Dramatists or the gym.
What do you like to do (not including theatre)? Swim.
Favourite thing about London? Gardens.
What makes you happy? Finishing a play.
What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought (excluding a house)? A new laptop computer. $799.
Which words or phases do you overuse? Tension. Aesthetic. Perhaps. Know. Yeah. Okay. Also, I talk too much about dogs.
What is your greatest fear? Eating my last meal.
What would be your last meal? See above.
Where would you like to be right now? On a beach. A warm beach.
What would you be if you weren’t a playwright? A Theologian. Or a doctor.
What time do you go to bed? 1AM.
Did you do any research for your play? My mother is a Hospice chaplain, so she gave me a lot of information about nursing homes and end-of-life care.
What would you say influences you? Watching dogs. When you watch a dog, you see ‘need’ distilled into simple, affecting gestures.
What’s your favourite line in your play? “No one does something for nothing.”
If you could have any super power what would it be? Never needing to sleep.
Do you like surprises? Good ones, yes; bad ones, no.
Death Tax by Lucas Hanth will be performed in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs 18 – 22 June 2013 as part of our Open Court Weekly Rep season. Click here to book