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Seattle Playwright Keri Healey: Truth or Dare?
Keri Healey writes about ordinary relationships in an extraordinarily fresh and funny way. You might know her from the popular Ikea Cycle: Tiny Domestic Dramas and Ikea Bedtime Stories
(co-written with Bret Fetzer)—cleverly staged in the IKEA showroom in Renton. Or you might know her from her many other plays staged around town and around the country, including the widely adored Cherry Cherry Lemon and Don't You Dare Love Me.
Healey will be presenting new work at Hugo House tomorrow night—along with Rebecca Brown, Eric McHenry, and Macklemore—in "Truth or Dare," part of the Hugo Literary Series.
BookNerd: What is the principal aspect of your personality?
Keri Healey: Conscientiousness.
BN: What is your most irrational fear?
KH: Being killed violently.
BN: What do you think is the most overrated virtue or talent?
KH: "Thinking outside the box."
BN: What's the last sentence or line of dialogue you read and fell in love with?
KH: Mad Men's dialogue makes me giddy. I really liked how this line revealed character:
Joan Holloway: "Go home, take a paper bag, cut some eye holes out of it. Put it over your head, get undressed and look at yourself in the mirror. Really evaluate where your strengths and weaknesses are. And be honest."
BN: What's the last book you bought?
KH: Death of a Writer by Michael Collins
BN: What's the last book you read?
KH: The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
BN: What is your favorite place in Seattle?
KH: Lincoln Park in West Seattle.
BN: What is your favorite place in the world?
KH: Any table where my friends are gathered around a deck of cards.
BN: What about Seattle do you like the most?
KH: The whole trees-water-mountains-sky thing.
BN: What about Seattle bugs you?
KH: All-hours traffic.
BN: What skill would you most like to have?
KH: The ability to sing.
BN: What skill or talent do you wish you didn't have?
KH: I don't think I have the latitude to give any up.
BN: What song gets stuck in your head?
KH: "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire‚" by the Ink Spots
BN: What quality do you most like in a man?
KH: Silliness.
BN: What quality do you most like in a woman?
KH: Calm.
BN: What quality do you most like in a writer?
KH: Respect for their characters.
BN: What quality do you most like in a politician?
KH: The ability to answer a question directly.
BN: What quality do you least like in a person?
KH: The drive to acronymize everything.
BN: Who are your fictional heroes?
KH: Auntie Mame, Atticus Finch, Thursday Next
BN: Who are your real-life heroes?
KH: Richard Engel, Barbara Jordan, Harvey Milk, Lois Weisberg, Roger Moore
BN: Which word or phrase do you overuse?
KH: "Actually"
BN: What writing platitude drives you insane?
KH: Louder, faster, funnier. (Although, it's usually true.)
BN: What book (or play) do we all need to go read (or see) right now?
KH: Go find and read Aditi Brennan Kapil's Love Person. It's a play about love and language and loving language, and it's in three languages—English, Sanskrit, and American Sign Language—and it's just the smartest, most moving play I've seen in a long time. But if you need to see a delightful play right this minute, see Scot Augustson's Teensploitation which is playing this month at Theatre Off Jackson. He's one of the best Seattle has to offer.
BN: What's the weirdest thing anyone's said about one of your plays?
KH: "That all happened to you, right?" Which, I guess, isn't so "weird." I was just struck by this stranger’s assumption that they knew enough about me personally to think that. Or maybe people think that fiction doesn't exist anymore.
BN: If you were to die and come back, what would you be?
KH: Annoyed. I wanna be on train going anywhere else but back.
BN: What will people say about you when you die?
KH: Depends who you ask. The parties are split.
BN: Who or what is your one true love?
KH: My nephew, Trey Daniel DeVaun. Before I met him, it was art, but he wins.
BN: If you were meeting someone for the first time in a public place, how would you tell them to recognize you?
KH: Look for the person who's looking for a person.
Healey will be presenting new work at Hugo House tomorrow night—along with Rebecca Brown, Eric McHenry, and Macklemore—in "Truth or Dare," part of the Hugo Literary Series.
BookNerd: What is the principal aspect of your personality?
Keri Healey: Conscientiousness.
BN: What is your most irrational fear?
KH: Being killed violently.
BN: What do you think is the most overrated virtue or talent?
KH: "Thinking outside the box."
BN: What's the last sentence or line of dialogue you read and fell in love with?
KH: Mad Men's dialogue makes me giddy. I really liked how this line revealed character:
Joan Holloway: "Go home, take a paper bag, cut some eye holes out of it. Put it over your head, get undressed and look at yourself in the mirror. Really evaluate where your strengths and weaknesses are. And be honest."
BN: What's the last book you bought?
KH: Death of a Writer by Michael Collins
BN: What's the last book you read?
KH: The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
BN: What is your favorite place in Seattle?
KH: Lincoln Park in West Seattle.
BN: What is your favorite place in the world?
KH: Any table where my friends are gathered around a deck of cards.
BN: What about Seattle do you like the most?
KH: The whole trees-water-mountains-sky thing.
BN: What about Seattle bugs you?
KH: All-hours traffic.
BN: What skill would you most like to have?
KH: The ability to sing.
BN: What skill or talent do you wish you didn't have?
KH: I don't think I have the latitude to give any up.
BN: What song gets stuck in your head?
KH: "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire‚" by the Ink Spots
BN: What quality do you most like in a man?
KH: Silliness.
BN: What quality do you most like in a woman?
KH: Calm.
BN: What quality do you most like in a writer?
KH: Respect for their characters.
BN: What quality do you most like in a politician?
KH: The ability to answer a question directly.
BN: What quality do you least like in a person?
KH: The drive to acronymize everything.
BN: Who are your fictional heroes?
KH: Auntie Mame, Atticus Finch, Thursday Next
BN: Who are your real-life heroes?
KH: Richard Engel, Barbara Jordan, Harvey Milk, Lois Weisberg, Roger Moore
BN: Which word or phrase do you overuse?
KH: "Actually"
BN: What writing platitude drives you insane?
KH: Louder, faster, funnier. (Although, it's usually true.)
BN: What book (or play) do we all need to go read (or see) right now?
KH: Go find and read Aditi Brennan Kapil's Love Person. It's a play about love and language and loving language, and it's in three languages—English, Sanskrit, and American Sign Language—and it's just the smartest, most moving play I've seen in a long time. But if you need to see a delightful play right this minute, see Scot Augustson's Teensploitation which is playing this month at Theatre Off Jackson. He's one of the best Seattle has to offer.
BN: What's the weirdest thing anyone's said about one of your plays?
KH: "That all happened to you, right?" Which, I guess, isn't so "weird." I was just struck by this stranger’s assumption that they knew enough about me personally to think that. Or maybe people think that fiction doesn't exist anymore.
BN: If you were to die and come back, what would you be?
KH: Annoyed. I wanna be on train going anywhere else but back.
BN: What will people say about you when you die?
KH: Depends who you ask. The parties are split.
BN: Who or what is your one true love?
KH: My nephew, Trey Daniel DeVaun. Before I met him, it was art, but he wins.
BN: If you were meeting someone for the first time in a public place, how would you tell them to recognize you?
KH: Look for the person who's looking for a person.
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