We Will Not Be Ignored
They may not be household names yet, but they are certainly working on it. Alana McNair and Kate Wilkinson, writers and stars of the new off-Broadway show, Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy are very excited about life right now. What's so thrilling? Well, there's all of the attention the show is getting, their band, and did we mention their amazing subway ads? McNair and Wilkinson are both graduates of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. McNair has a B.F.A. in Drama and Wilkinson has a B.F.A. in Film and Television. McNair has created roles for the stage in Just Piddlin': A Dirt Road Operetta, The House of Yes and Half Asleep in Karen Finley. Wilkinson has created several short films, including Waterloo Pier, Fries & Thighs: The After Hours World of the Market Diner and Sarcastra!. Though they have been busy writing and acting in their current project, the pair recently sat down over a pitcher of Tang and asked each other the hard-hitting feminist questions they'd like real journalists to be asking them. Here's how it went...
Kate: So Alana...am I pronouncing that right?
Alana: No, it's Alana.
Kate: Oh, like Atlanta.
Alana: Yeah, but without the "t's."
Kate: Right. I'm terribly sorry. Shall we get started?
Alana: OK. When we wrote Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy, what were your expectations?
Kate: I guess we were hoping this would simply be a small steppingstone. Little did we know that once we got our incredible director, Tim Haskell [and later, a Goonie] involved, our first show would be off-Broadway and getting a lot of attention. It's really exciting, but at the same time, the stakes are a lot higher.
Alana: Yeah, we never expected it to be at the level it is. It just sort of blew up. Have you had moments, because I know I have, when you're really overwhelmed by all of this?
Kate: I never stop being overwhelmed.
Alana: Yes. I keep getting emails from people saying that they saw our subway ads--people I haven't talked to in years--and I'm like, "you could have emailed me last year. I was cool then."
Kate: Those subway ads are amazing! It's just such a New York recognition. By the by, this Tang is great. I feel like an astronaut. So, tell me: how did we come up with the idea for Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy?
Alana: One night you and I were watching Fatal Attraction and were struck by the way the women in the film were depicted. Anne Archer plays the stereotypical housewife and Glenn Close portrays the career woman as someone who is crazy and psycho. We found this interesting because the movie isn't so old, yet it is obnoxious in the way it stereotypes these women... these ladies. We were inspired to write a parody and reexamine the message of this film. We also wanted to compare the views of women in the '80s to the views of women today and see how that has changed or if it has changed at all. Do you think that women's roles have changed since 1987?
Kate: Well, I'd like to think that they have.
Alana: Yeah, but society is still so threatened by strong women that it hinders progress, I think. Do you think our play informs that in any way?
Kate: I hope so. I think that in the way we've presented it, Glenn Close is a threat because she's such a strong woman.
Alana: But she still wants to be taken care of by a man.
Alana: Ladystein is our band.
Kate: Just you and I are in it. I tend to like our music.
Alana: Me too. So what message would you say we are trying to present with this play?
Kate: Well, feminists in the '80s reacted to the fact that, as you said, Glenn Close, the "working woman," is portrayed as "evil" and Anne Archer, the "housewife," is depicted as "good." We thought we could put a new spin on the film by incorporating that commentary. Hopefully, that's what we've accomplished.
Alana: Hopefully. The film is pretty over the top.
Kate: It is. I mean…I can understand that feminist response, yet it was to Fatal Attraction! I still find it hard to believe that the movie was nominated for six Oscars, including best picture. Whenever I see it now, often on WE television for women, I can't help but see it as a comedy. So…what is your political stance on wigs?
Alana: I think that wigs are very important to many theatrical endeavors and cultures that I support. I think that the hair in that movie is so iconic that if we didn't wear wigs in the play, it would be missing something really huge.
Kate: I concur.
Alana: Do you think that our message is made stronger by the fact that we are two girls who wrote this play and created really strong roles for ourselves? I wonder how people will react to that. Also, I think more male playwrights are recognized for their work. Do you think that people might react differently if men had written the play?
Kate: Definitely. I don't think that anyone but two girls would have the same perspective. We wrote two really meaty parts for ourselves. The point of the story is: there are a lot of great playwrights out there, and I guess it's up to all us girls to start creating theater with good roles for female actors.