The Blog According to St. Mai

St. Mai interviews author Don Elwell

2008-05-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

[You knew it was coming: I finally got Dr. Don Elwell, author of The Ganymeade Protocol and the Coyote Trilogy of plays, director of the Greylight and Grindlebone theatre companies, and one of the smartest artists I know to sit down at his keyboard for an email interview. So below is a transcript of my interview with my favorite author. Hope you enjoy it ]

Mai: Okay, I've read most of your work, and you and I have corresponded for quite some time, but I realized I know really very little about your early life, where you came from, and how it got you to where you are now. How does a Dr. Elwell get his start?

Don Elwell: If you're reading my stuff you know more about me than you think you do. My dad was a vaudeville performer before the war, song and dance man. He toured with Durante and Martha Ray and folks like that, appeared in some of the Busby Berkeley films as a dancer, and wrote. He got out of show business after WWII, and I think never really wanted me in it I think he thought it was too hard a life. My mom was a southern belle, very socially adroit. He was just exotic enough for her, I think, and they'd both been married before, which was scandalous.

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but I think that proved too provincial for my Father, and early on we moved to one of the barrier islands in NW Florida, where Ft. Walton Beach is today. Then it was just an island with dirt roads and a drawbridge. Beautiful but pretty isolating if you're ten.

Mai: Is that why the beach and the ocean figures in so much of your writing.

Don Elwell: Must be, yes. I grew up on the beach, and sailing--both with my folks and with my own little boat. There weren't many other kids on the island, so I'd go sailing on my own, sometimes all day, or spend the day in the surf.

Mai: Do you surf?

Don Elwell: I body surf. This was kinda before the surfing craze hit.

Mai: How did you find yourself in show business? I mean, especially if your dad disapproved?

Don Elwell: I don't know that he disapproved actively. He just knew it wasn't an easy road. I did plays in grammar school and high school. . .we owned an apartment complex on the island that we built there and I used to come up with shows and programs to entertain the tenants, I did magic shows too. . .i think its just in the blood. I went to Stetson University fully expecting to go into law, got shown around the place my first day by a red-haired theatre major (damn you Lurilene Snedeker, and bless you too) and that was it. I shifted my major, did my Masters at FSU, and have done theatre ever since.

Mai: What was your first theatre job?

Don Elwell: Nashville Academy Theatre....I think it's called Nashville Children's theatre now....I acted and designed special effects for a play about the Bell Witch hauntings, then wound up back in Miami working for a tour company, and after that directing at the Saenger theatre in Pensacola before they closed it for renovations.

Mai: How about film?

Don Elwell: When the city closed the Saenger for renovation, I went to New York to try to find work. I did do a bit of film extra stuff, but SAG went on strike in 1980, the work dried up, and I wound up leaving nyc.....and inner city living is NoT my cup of tea. . . to try Los Angeles. That took me a couple of tries, but I wound up working in LA, working for a grip house out there and running my own small production company. It worked pretty well for a while and I did some good work, but the film industry just isn't much fun to me.

Mai: Didn't like it?

Don Elwell: Theatre people are family. The business is difficult, badly underpaid, and inconstant. Thespians tend to support each other, to try to involve their friends and colleagues, to share the work. It's family. The film industry, especially on the West coast, is about as far from that as you can get. I spent most of my time in film pulling knives out of my back from former partners. Still, LA was worthwhile. My dissatisfaction with film led me back to the theatre, and to teaching.

Mai: You were at Citrus College?

Don Elwell: Yes, and did a lot of writing.

Mai: How did the Coyote Trilogy start?

Don Elwell: There was this wonderful little place called the Iguana Cafe in North Hollywood near where I lived. Amazing block, really. there was the Iguana, and Odyssey Video, which had this wild selection of hard to find films, and Iliad Books, this brilliant used bookstore run by Dan Weinstein, all right in the middle of the studios and recording studios. The place cooked. The Iguana had been started by Tom Ianello, this New York musician with a real attitude, a really warm heart, and a real love of art. On any night you could wander in there and find Tom Petty's band playing, or Xcene Cervinka, former members of the Doors. . . .really amazing place. I started doing spoken word stuff there, performance poetry, and feeding off the other work i saw.

I was teaching at Citrus out in Glendora at the time as the provisional chair of the theatre department. One of the plays we had planned to do over summer was involved in a rights fight, and I pulled it from the lineup. Wanting to fill it in with something simple, I put together Coyote from some of the spoken word pieces I'd done, and my friend and longtime collaberator Jim Henriques did the score. The piece just worked. Later when I was teaching up in Oregon, I put together a summer tour of it and honed the piece. That's also where the second play, Cyberpunk Opera, started.

Mai: It always startles me to see how much your plays anticipated. in Cyberpunk you lay out the whole Second Life/World of Warcraft phenomenon long before it happened. You anticipated the growth of the NeoConservatives, . . . you just got so much of this right.

Don Elwell: I saw the way the world was going, especially online. I remember running one of the earliest BBS systems in LA on my Commodore 64. I remember vividly the first time the internet became available through Mosaic to the average joe. It really really stunned me. I knew how important this was likely to be.

As for politics, most of my friends were at the fringes of society. Intelligent and educated, but also eccentric and poor. I saw how the screws were getting tightened out here on the fringes and knew it was only a matter of time until the social conservatives tried to use their newfound power to move us socially back into the 1880's. . . . or the 1480's.

Mai: Tell me about the Greylight Theatre.

Don Elwell: The Greylight was a happy accident. I had moved to Southern Illinois with Gail to work on her MFA and I was teaching and working on my PhD. We met John and Clare McCall at a poetry reading and became friends with them John taught at the college and he and Clare were both gifted writers and musicians. They said there was a new piece on at the studio theatre at the college I had to see.

We went the next night. The play is called "Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love" and was directed by Noreen Barnes, who was an instructor in the theatre department. I thought it was brilliant, edgy, smart. . .there was nudity and really hot material and lesbian and gay lovescenes and it was handled without a bit of preciousness by the student cast. I was blown away. I wrote to Christian Moe, the department chair then, praising the piece. I discovered later that Noreen had nearly lost her job over it.

I determined that we needed a theatre company immune to politics and money, so I incorporated the Greylight as a nonprofit with help from the McCalls. Gretel Chapman, a medieval art historian at SIUC and her partner Jan Thomas had just bought an old school building in Murphysboro, and the basement, which was being turned into a gallery, was up for grabs. We scavanged cusions from discarded furniture for seating and did an environmental theatre production of Cyberpunk Opera there, the first show of Greylight. The place was damp, freezing, and packed with audience. It made me realize this was possible.

Over the next five years, the Greylight became this production machine for new scripts. We outfitted the old gymnasium as a black box theatre, and did one new script after another. It was this amazing stream of playwrights. . .Jason Hedrick, Bob Streit, Margie Pignataro, Lynn Eaton. . .it just keeps going. We published a book of the plays of the first three seasons, created the Southern Illinois Renfaire, turned the McCall's house party, the DaDa Art Party, into a major yearly event with hundreds of people. Just astonishing.

When I left to teach in Maryland, I realized that the Greylight model would work just about anywhere.

Mai: That was Grindlebone.

Don Elwell: Yes. I discovered from a contact in the Burning Man community about this great little Greylight-esque stage space called the Hamilton Arts Center. So I put together Grindlebone. Whereas Greylight was wild and raw, the Grindlebone shows were professional and fluid. The version of Cyberpunk Opera with the remarkable Paul Meyd and a host of other really gifted cast memebers was one of Baltimore's best in 2006. Citypaper did a great review of the piece. We also did a performance of the newly revised Dub for Babylon, finally completing my trilogy at last, we did Margie Pignataro's "Abbey Flybynight" which is a treat. Some very strong folks, and a LOT of help from the Hamilton arts folks.

Mai: So tell me about Ganymeade Protocol. You've written dozens of plays, is this your first novel?

Don Elwell: First full lenght one, yes. I wrote "In the Shade" an earlier novella.

Mai: How did this one come about?

Don Elwell: This was a looooooong write. I'd always been intersted in maritime history, particularly in the history of piracy in the new world and its place in forming who we were. Ages ago, I began working on this history of a fictional piratical state, blending real events and invented characters and bringing it up to present day. Having done that, I wasn't sure where to go with it. The History of Perrin Island sat in a stack of tractor paper for years. When I moved to Maryland, I was sitting up one night in my new, very sparce apartment when I began to get an idea of a new narrative, one that would blend with the old one. The result is a story which bounces back and forth from history to a narrative of the near future until the two collide.

Mai: It's a great read, you should be proud of it. So What's next for the Greylight and Grindlebone and for Dr. Elwell?

Don Elwell: Well we've combined the two companies. Greylight is working up a series of classic and modern Commedia plays and workshops for working with kids with Asperger's syndrome and for general educational consumption. The Grindlebone theater is waiting til we finish reviewing scripts for next season, but that should be fun. In the meanwhile, I've got Ganymeade Protocol out and will be doing some speaking events for the book.

Mai: Some of them on Second Life?

Don Elwell: I am, if nothing else, a wirehead.

Mai: Before we go, I did want to ask you about some of your characters.

Don Elwell: Sure.

Mai: You're a straight man. . .at least as far as I know. . .but you're one of the most GLBT friendly writers out there. In all of your writings--plays, poetry, books, all of them--you depict gay and lesbian couples as though its the most normal thing in the world. Bisexuality, multiple relationships. . .none of it comes in for the least criticism from you. Why is that?

Don Elwell: I was raised in an incredibly tight and loving family. There on the island it was just dad, mom, me, and the water. When grew, when I became involved in the theatre, I think I sought that same closeness, that same trust--which is why he film industry disappointed me so. In the theatre I saw loving, happy couples who just happened to both be girls. I saw triad relationships that worked all round. I saw gay dads that really loved their kids. . .

Mai: . . .mine did.

Don Elwell: Exactly. So whenever I did run into prejudice, it slapped me back. It startled me. Here are these kind, loving people, and yet there are those who would happily drive wedges between every member of society, would put us all in little boxes. Here are some kind and loving people, and there are those that are willing to hate them, to destroy their lives, to kill them even, and in the most horrible ways possible just because they find their lifestyles disturbing. I realized this sort of social conservatism and judgementalism are a religion of fear. Its not morality, its not religion, its simple xenophobia. "If you're not like me, you're a potential threat and must be stopped" is the watchphrase, and they live that way. My father used to say there are two kinds of people in this world, those who think that different people are interesting, and those who think that different people are wrong.

Mai: Do you believe that?

Don Elwell: I believe that there are two kinds of people in this world, those who think that there are two kinds of people in this world, and those who don't.

Mai: Thank you Mungo.

Don Elwell: You're welcome :)

[Most of Dr. Elwell's books and plays are available from Wild Shore Press (http://www.wildshorepress.com] as hardcopy or download. He currently lives, works, and acts in Philadelpha]

The Ganymeade Protocol

2008-05-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

You have GOT to read this book!!! Modern day anarchic pirates in a fleet circling free and endlessly on the oceans, really well drawn characters, governmental systems that work without oppressing, sexual freedom, and a life that makes sense......its not just that I live on a boat most of the time, this thing really sings to me.

The Ganymeade Protocol by Don Elwell

your can get it as a cheapie download or order a hardcopy at www.wildshorepress.com

Changes

2008-05-08T16:50:00.001-07:00

Wow what a year. Im now living semi permanantly in New Zealand with the love of my life Chloe, I have a cat, a really interesting job, and a future. When I look back on the me of a year or so ago there is absolutely NO way I could have guessed that this is how things would have turned out.....

....or that they would have turned out at all :b

Still, the year hasn't been without its losses. Gem got mad with me and took a hike and now won't speak to me or any of her "Toxic" theatre friends. I'm curious how much her new BF has to do with this. I'm also startled at how malleable she proved to be. Ah well, live and learn.

I also never got to lay physical eyes on Mungo, who probably saved my life one night a year plus ago on Second Life. Thanks guy. you and your SO have GOT to come out to the pacific and visit us. Finish building your damn boat!!! :)

Still and all, its been an amazing trip. As I write this, its a cloudy day in Aukland, and Im sitting by the window with a hot cup of cocoa, a cat on my lap purring madly, and a life ahead of me.

Feels nice. Thanks guys.

on dry land

2007-04-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Back in Seattle after a trying cruise, with folks abuzz about the sinking of the Sea Diamond at Santorini. NOT the sort of thing to calm the passengers of an even larger cruise ship.

Im glad to be back. Its been tiring, and Im bushed. Im gonna stay off the web for a bit, lay back, and recharge :)

Mai At Sea

2007-03-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am sailing the bounding waves, running tech for the shows on a gigantic cruisliner and frankly wishing--as much fun as this is--that i was ashore and across a continent and with my sweetie. The ship gig is great though (and I have Mungo to thank for thisun), and they really like both my set designs and the way Im running the shows, so its all cake.

Ill have more to say on this, and maybe some pix to post later, but for now, its rehearsals, and way too much good food, and then going online (thank the gods for satilite broadband) to say hi to Gem and Mungo.

Life is good, and getting better.

Mai

More Writing !

2007-02-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

I just uploaded a new "Zarabeth" chapter to Wild Shore Press, which they tell me they'll have up by the end of the week, so you should all go over and, in a downloading frenzy, read my new stuff :)

Mai

Mai Goes To Print

2007-02-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

Man has this been a month. I've been building sets for a tour show that goes on Cruise ships, and now I suddenly become a published Author (and I don't mean just my blog). Wild Shore Press <"http://www.wildshorepress.com"> is serializing my "Zarabeth's World" for download as part of a new download scheme they're doing, and people have already read it.

It's cool because I don't have to do the whole piece at once, only in monthly chapters. When I told Mungo about this (From Grindlebone, he was the one that told me about Wild Shore and suggested I submit something) he said a lot of authors, including Charles Dickens, started with novels serialized in newspapers (The London Times in Dicken's case). I guess the internet is just the new version of this.

Anyway, if you get the chance, check the out. Downloaded written works are cheap, and some of the stuff Wild Shore has on is great. I've already blown all the money i've made so far downloading other author's works to read on the road. Mungo (Dr. Don Elwell) has some really cool (and disturbing, but knowing him, go figure) pieces on there, and Gem Oddfellow, who I adore, also has a novellette and a new serial on there as well.

Man, things are looking up, and it's about damn time

Mai

How Grindlebone Saved My life

2007-01-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

or

How a weirdo CyberHippy Arts collective will save the world

Grindlebone saved my life. I mean that literally, not
metaphorically. I was ready to die--tell you why
later--I was ready, had accepted it, was resigned to
it, and tnen I meet Mungo and Gem online and
everything changes and suddenly I have hope and a life
and a reason to be here. I owe them everything.

How it happened, I was spending yet another evening
alone at home....well, alone nursing my asshole SO
while he died, and I logged onto the Second Life
system on the suggestion of a friend. I’m HIV
positive, or thought I was at the time. More on this
later. At least on line, my friend tells me, you can
have a social life and some semblence of a sex life.
So I log on, and go wild with the online virtual sex
for a while until it begins to bore me. I’m on one
night at Extasia, bored finally even with dancing,
contemplating logging off permanently, and I don’t
just mean Second Life. I was at the end. The
absolute end.

Then I meet Mungo.

He didn’t hit on me. My screen name is one of the
most obscure of the Greek Goddesses. He knew her, who
she was, who her mother was. He asked about my
outfit, where I’d gotten it. He had a friend, a
lovely friend, who was new to the system, and he
wanted to steer her to some nice stuff. There was
something about him. He was so level, so kind, and i
found myself talking to him. Talking about Steve, and
the virus, and my life, and SL. We talked for hours
online that night, winding up with his avatar holding
mine and me crying so hard I couldnt see the keyboard.
I slept soundly for the first time in months that
night.

It saved me.

In a few months, Ill know. In a few months I may be
cleared of the death sentence I felt I was living
under. Either way, though, I know now that I have a
life ahead of me, and good friends and a family and a
future, and that ain’t bad. Either way, when Burning
Man rolls around this year, I'm going to go grab life hard by the short hairs and never let go....