[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Blake Shields’s opus about a novelist turned arsonist turned left-wing hero, “The Arsonist of Venice,” premieres at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. It’s a particularly wild subject for a solo show and I had a lot of questions…I’m always fascinated by the choices playwrights and actors make, especially when it’s self produced, when as the creator you have to be more than a little obsessed. Blake was kind enough to give me some insights into his purpose, his journey and his play.
Hi Blake, thanks so much for letting us into your world a little. How did you come up with the idea for “The Arsonist of Venice?”
Well, I wanted to write about a brilliant, wounded character who destructively blasts his pain out into the world. A sensitive fella with a good conscience and a great mind who has been warped by the hand life dealt him. That’s the kind of character I’ve always played and always wanted to play, but I yearned to take it further by writing my own dream role– the kind of layered, fascinating figure that would allow me to do everything of which I’m truly capable as a performer.
Acting aside, however, I’ve always felt pulled to excavate my own dark history through writing, to exorcise my demons, so to speak, via artistic expression. So, one night I got an image of a sophisticated, well-known artist who likes to burn down buildings. He’s gazing into the flames of an office building at night, totally dissociated from his enviable life and career. That image held my interest. The whole play sprang from that weird snapshot.
Why was the Hollywood Fringe Festival the place to start for you?
I guess because it seemed like the most accessible way to set out on what will hopefully be a long journey for this piece. Fringe doesn’t require a massive budget or the support of a big theatre company, and I didn’t want to beg or wait. I wanted to do it, and this seemed like the most direct route to an audience and a stage.
How long did it take to develop the play and what was your process?
Too long. I’m not even going to admit how long. Suffice it to say this project evolved over a period of years. First I wrote 300 pages of notes about the characters. Next I created a fifty-page outline, and only then did I allow myself to begin work on the script itself. The first draft took six months to complete, and it was 200 pages long (which means it would’ve taken about five hours to perform). Over the next few years and throughout the pandemic, I work-shopped it exhaustively with actors and writers, and slowly the current 80-page script took shape. It’s by far the most complex, interesting, and infuriating thing I’ve ever done.
Did you consider expanding the piece from a solo play and if not why?
No, I never really wanted to do a one-man show. It’s just not that interesting to me. I like drama. I like Eugene O’Neill and Sam Shepard and David Mamet and Lillian Hellman and David Rabe. Layered, moment-by-moment interactions, lightning micro-exchanges, rich dialogue between troubled, enigmatic characters– that’s what stops me dead. My young mind and heart exploded when I saw “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “Burn This,” “True West,” “Hurly Burly.” I’ve always dreamed of creating something like that.
It’s a brutal subject, what was your interest in developing a character like this?
“The Arsonist of Venice” is about revenge, loss, addiction, art, violence, broken relationships, the legacy of trauma, and untreated mental illness. So, yes, why linger on such topics? Life’s tough enough. Why not examine butterflies and rose petals? Well, write what you know, they say, and unfortunately, those were the salient features of my upbringing. “Arsonist” isn’t a straightforwardly autobiographical piece, but I suppose it comes naturally to me as an artist to play with my native colors.
A more philosophical angle: One role of art is certainly to illuminate dark places– that is, to try to expose the totality of the human experience, including the parts we don’t like. Especially those parts, because until we find the courage to face them, we are destined to run from them in tragic ways. Any healing modality worth its salt– therapy, meditation, or art– challenges us to bear the unbearable. I love this line from Carl Jung: “We do not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
All of that said, “Arsonist” is also a funny play. It has a lot of humor in it, and not all of it gallows humor! It has a lot of love too, and I think its heart is a heart of hope.
Do you have any advice for a writer or an actor developing their own work?
I’ve got enough of my own problems.
Gosh, what can I say? Aim high. Try to make something great, something that compels you, that scratches the deepest itch in your soul, not what you think will be fashionable or expedient. Create what you want to create, and take as much time as necessary to develop it. But don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait for Hollywood or your family or your friends or your creative partner to tell you it’s time. Begin. Take full responsibility for your own creative life, brace yourself for a fight, and begin. For better and worse, everything will organize around that.
You can audition in Hollywood for thirty years and end up with nothing. No stories, no highlights, no brushes with stars, just endless frustration and failure. It’s a big casino. Most people don’t make it. But if in the meantime you’ve been creating art, generating your own meaningful projects, then you won’t have to regret your life. You’ll be able to look back with the dignity of an artist.
Thank you Blake! I’m really looking forward to seeing “The Arsonist of Venice.”
Where:
The Broadwater (Second Stage) for five more dates during Fringe.
If its half as fascinating as it seems, then it will be a gem of the fringe for sure!
When:
Tuesday, June 13 2023, 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 17 2023, 11:00 PM
Monday, June 19 2023, 7:00 PM
Friday, June 23 2023, 5:00 PM
Friday, June 23 2023, 5:00 PM (virtual performance)