February 29, 2012 | Theatre,

Morgan Jenness on AMERIVILLE

ArtsEmerson’s Dramaturgy and Outreach Fellow Sara Bookin-Weiner talks to Universes’ dramaturg Morgan Jenness about Ameriville, playing at the Paramount Center Mainstage, March 13-18.

SBW: How did Universes develop Ameriville?

MJ: The project started with Universes in residency in New Orleans interviewing dozens and dozens of people who had been affected by the events around Hurricane Katrina…and then writing short pieces incorporating these thoughts, as well as their own individual observations. At some point Chay Yew came into the process as a director and there started to be a discussion about the core issues which actually caused the post Katrina situation…political, economic, social…sexism, classicism, and the idea of what and who was given value in this country and what was not.

SBW: What was your experience like coming into the process as a dramaturg?

MJ: It was one of the most glorious experiences of my career. First, because I had wanted to work with this ensemble for many years – ever since I saw Steve and Mildred and other original members at the Point in the South Bronx. Second, because of how I was brought in – on an absolute creative leap of faith by then Artistic Director Marc Masterson (of the Actors Theatre of Louisville), who trusted that the basic mass of material could indeed be shaped into a cohesive theater piece – and trusted the artistic abilities of the creative team to do so.

SBW: Through your work and research on the production’s content, which elements did you find the most intriguing?

MJ: One of the key images I found really compelling – and which for me truly shaped the core dramaturgy – was the U.S. Corps of Engineers map of the Mississippi tributary river system which shows how basically this arterial water system all flows into the heart of New Orleans. One of the core ideas of the piece was that, despite various false hierarchies of race and economics in this country we are indeed all connected. The other was that the metaphorical flood waters of Katrina will rise until we are all up to our necks in it – ergo the refrain “How high is the water?” in the piece – and certainly these days I think most of us would admit we are all standing in those waters.

SBW: In this piece, Hurricane Katrina became the event to act as a lens on our country’s attitudes. Seven years later, how does this production hold up? Why is it important?

MJ: It oddly feels even more resonant. I thought it was a piece that would have a certain time frame on it – given the amnesia this country consistently experiences about various specific events. Things are still terrible in the Gulf – and also still from the oil spill which we also seem to have forgotten. What Ameriville does is remind us that this issue has not gone away, the issues Ameriville truly talks about are still with us, now more than ever. And these are the issues that need to be looked at. And there is that final, Howl-like monologue Steve does that he constantly updates…because unless we really do start realizing we live in Ameriville there will always sadly be a need to update it.

MORGAN JENNESS spent over a decade at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, with both Joseph Papp and George C. Wolfe, in various capacities ranging from Literary Manager to Director of Play Development to Associate Producer. She was also Associate Artistic Director at the New York Theatre Workshop, and an Associate Director at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in charge of new projects. She has worked as a dramaturg, workshop director and/or artistic consultant at theatres and new play programs across the country, including the Young Playwrights Festival, the Mark Taper Forum, The Playwrights Center/Playlabs, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Double Image/New York Stage and Film, Classic Stage Company, Victory Gardens, Hartford Stage and Center Stage. She has participated as a visiting artist and adjunct in playwriting programs at the University of Iowa, Brown University, Breadloaf, Columbia and NYU and is currently on the adjunct faculty at Fordham University. She has served on peer panels for various funding institutions, including NYSCA and the NEA, with whom she served as a site evaluator for almost a decade. In 1998 Ms. Jenness joined Helen Merrill Ltd., an agency representing writers, directors, composers and designers, as Creative Director. She now holds a position in the Literary Department at Abrams Artists Agency. In 2003, Ms. Jenness was presented with an Obie Award Special Citation for Longtime Support of Playwrights.