An Interview with ‘Lofty Deeds’ Writer Mark Guarino

From the House Theatre of Chicago website:

When and why did you become interested in writing for the stage?

The short answer is this: in high school I worked at the public library and used to shelve the theater section. I became fascinated with these slim volumes of plays and at first just liked the way the dialogue looked set against the white space. It was pleasing to the eye, and then when I started reading the plays, I was taken in at how the build-up of lines can create a mystery that isn’t inherent in the lines themselves. I was also drawn to the limitless theatrical elements of a stage, that it is just a black box that can become any dream world we can imagine. I found that honorable to explore and still do.

Do you approach your work as a playwright differently than your work as a journalist? If so, how?

I ran my university newspaper for two years while starting to read and write plays so there was never a border between the two. I see both as going after the same goal: To force the reader, or audience member, to pay attention. So much in our culture is designed for distraction, especially now. So that’s really it. I’m very curious about people and how they talk and how their dreams and actions are often at conflict, and a profound curiosity about these things is really the number one factor you need if you’re going to write, period. Journalism gives me access to situations and people I suppose shows up later in my other work.

Why did you choose to tell the story of Lofty Deeds?

The story kind of chose me. In trying to figure out a story out of the ten or 12 songs he handed me on CD, I found myself returning to the ideas of a discarded culture and society’s shrinking memory, two themes I must be obsessed with because I write about them a lot. I collect old 78 and 45 records and am familiar with many names that were lost to us along the way. I was also interested in how we discard old people because media culture tells us we have no use for them because they’re no longer consumers. As a journalist I am attracted to writing stories about marginalized people, either living or dead — They’re the ones with the best stories. So I saw Lofty as a guy who was one of those characters I felt I knew so well already.

How is Lofty different from your previous work as a playwright?

This was the first that had source material. My plays usually come from my pencil and that’s it; I normally don’t like plays that involve research — It seems too much like homework. I never hear the writer in those plays, just the clever researcher — the source material is too often a safety net or a crutch that prevents the deeper elements of the play to surface. I just try to coax the play from head to paper. This one was actually easier because I had Jon’s music and I knew his paintings so well. I wanted to make sure I created a work that was both in his world and also a play that could stand on its own and have elements of my style. I also was conscious of not making a jukebox musical of Jon Langford hits but a real play that used the songs to help tell the story.

What has it been like collaborating with Jon Langford?

There really is no more generous collaborator. I started out as a fan of Jon’s long before I met him. Then I met him as a journalist and I’ll admit, although I’ve interviewed people with more marquee names, Jon, Emmylou Harris and Paul Westerberg were the only three among hundreds I was actually nervous about spending time with because I respected what they did at a really deep level. He really trusted me with his music and images, so I wanted to make sure I created a play that served them well. My collaboration was really through those songs. I spent a month in Vermont transcribing the songs and figuring out how to use them as beats for the play; in the process I re-discovered what makes his music so special: Like all blues and especially early country, they trick you with their accessible melodies and once you’re in, you realize there’s something else much more complex at stake.

An Interview with Jon Langford

The music and artwork of Jon Langford, founder of the legendary punk rock band The Mekons and Bloodshot Records recording artist, was the inspiration for our latest production, All the Fame of Lofty Deeds (written by rock journalist Mark Guarino).  We recently sat down with Jon to ask him a few questions about music, his inspiration for Lofty Deeds, and what it’s like to see his work translated to the stage.

What is your favorite thing about living and working in Chicago?

Having the mental and physical space to do the things I want to do, in an atmosphere of support and cooperation that provides a defiant antidote to the brutal and conventional “me-first ambition” you find in other cities.

When did you become interested in writing and performing country music?

There seemed to be a lot of parallels between punk and country – a willingness to face the world head on and a simplicity of form that allows anyone in.

What was the inspiration behind the Lofty Deeds character?

An old phrase I found on a 17th century Dutch vanitas etching: “All the fame of lofty deeds must perish like a dream.” There was also an old flyer for local Chicago C&W legends the Sundowners, which advertised guest artists like Shorty Cunningham and Lefty Hamlett. Suddenly Lofty Deeds was an old washed up honky-tonk singer looking back at his life through his records, radio shows, posters and promo shots.

What’s it like seeing your music and artwork transformed into a stage show?

I’m really flattered that the House chose to perform this work. I think of all the things I’ve done, Lofty really lends itself to live theater. The original CD was described as a “honky-tonk Ziggy Stardust” and you can’t get much more theatrical than Dave can you?!

Why should people come see All the Fame of Lofty Deeds?

My initial idea for the show was pretty stately and grim but Mark Guarino’s script takes it into wild absurdist territory. We want people to feel that they really are the audience at some crazed old hillbilly Barn Dance, to sing and shout along and brace themselves for some weird thrills and spills…