Stage-Struck in Screen City

Playwright Beth Henley struck gold with her first professionally produced play: “Crimes of the Heart,” which was introduced at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1979, played 535 performances on Broadway in 1981-83 and won a Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award as best American play.

Her most recent play, “Impossible Marriage,” closed Sunday off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre in New York. Starring Holly Hunter, it marked the first time one of Henley’s plays received its first full production in New York.

The Mississippi-reared Henley also has been active in Southern California theater. The premiere of her “The Miss Firecracker Contest” opened the Victory Theatre in Burbank in 1980, before becoming a movie starring Hunter and Tim Robbins. Two of her plays during the ‘80s, “The Debutante Ball” and “Abundance,” premiered at South Coast Repertory. In 1993, Henley’s “Control Freaks” received its second production at the Met Theatre in Hollywood, again featuring longtime collaborator and friend Hunter.

Henley, Hunter and Ed Harris were among the group who revived the Met Theatre in 1991, and they were among the group who bolted from the Met in 1996 to establish the still-fledgling Loretta Theatre. The Loretta plans to move into a space on Main Street in Santa Monica, recently vacated by the Santa Monica Museum of Art, but the board is still raising money.

The playwright is also a screenwriter, not only converting her own plays into movies, but also working on original material. She’s currently writing a script for director Jonathan Demme, as well as a new play.

Henley, 46, lives in West L.A. with her husband and a 3-year-old son. She maintains a homey-looking office in an apartment within walking distance of her home. That’s where she answered questions on a recent chilly day.

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Question: Is being a playwright in America getting any easier?

Answer: It was a joy getting “Impossible Marriage” produced because it was commissioned by the theater, they did a reading, and then they produced it. That’s much smoother than what I’m used to.

Q: What are you used to?

A: Trying to get a production somewhere, possibly in Poughkeepsie with two weeks rehearsal, then trying to get people in to see it and get them interested in taking it to New York. My career seems to come and go in waves. Suddenly you have a piece of luck, as with this play. With “Control Freaks,” it was more arduous, doing a workshop and production in Chicago, calling friends for money to do a production here. But just today, I heard that a company wants to do “Control Freaks” in London. A playwright friend of mine in London says they’re interested in more tough-minded pieces.

Q: Are there styles or genres that are more difficult to get produced now, or that are in fashion?

A: It’s trite, but if something is good, it has a much better shot of getting done. Persistence from the writer counts. And getting to know people who have your taste and inclinations helps as you get older, because you make more connections.

Q: Does Broadway matter to you?

A: Getting your play done on Broadway absolutely enhances its life. More regional and international theaters will know about it and want to do it. It will make more money when you sell the rights. It helps you be able to afford more plays that don’t do well. I’d love for every play I write to go to Broadway. You get a bigger audience.

Q: But is the Broadway market for nonmusical plays shrinking?

A: For me, it’s shrinking. [Laughs.] It feels really hard. But there are quite a few plays on Broadway. Ionesco’s “Chairs” at the Golden Theatre [on Broadway]--that’s amazing.

Q: How did this recent off-Broadway experience compare to Broadway?

A: “Impossible Marriage” was part of a season. It didn’t have an open-ended run, but it wasn’t going to close overnight. That’s a safety net.

Q: How often do you go to the theater?

A: Here in L.A., I go less frequently because I’m involved in my life. I have a little baby. When I travel, I’m more free. And when I go to New York, none of my friends there have been to see anything there. You have to make time for yourself to see theater, and I’m not an expert at that.

Q: What have you seen lately?

A: I really loved “Side Man,” by Warren Leight. But when you’re rehearsing all day like I was in New York last fall, the last thing you want to do is go sit in a theater and watch people act. I was doing tons of rewriting. It was intense. We changed the ending three times during previews. So I didn’t see anything this fall.

Q: Seen anything here recently?

A: I loved “Peter Pan” at the Pantages. My son kept saying, “I just want to talk to that Peter Pan.” He didn’t get to talk to him, but he enjoyed it, though it was a little overwhelming.

Q: You’ve said you find yourself turning away from naturalism. Why?

A: I got sick of always having pots and pans and props. My play “Abundance” just had too many props. It needs to be spare. It needs to be about the relationships and the words and even the movements of people. It got cluttered. I wanted to think more expressionistically.

Q: “Abundance” was first produced at South Coast Repertory, as was “Debutante Ball.” Is there some reason why you haven’t gone back there?

A: I definitely let them see my plays. [Calling out. . . .] Guys! Guys! I’d love to work there. I love the people there. For whatever reason, my plays haven’t got into their seasons.

Q: Though you’re one of the best-known playwrights living in L.A., your recent work isn’t produced at the major L.A. theaters--Center Theatre Group, the Geffen, Pasadena Playhouse. Is there a story behind that?

A: I submit plays just like everybody else, and most of the time people say no. I would so much like to work here for so many reasons.

Q: Is the Loretta an attempt to provide. . . .

A: A home for me, but also I know of so many artists I’d love to work with. I’d like to have some sort of world-class theater here that has collaborations with artists who want to do something amazing. Not just L.A. artists, though those are the ones primarily involved.

Q: Can a world-class theater work under Actors’ Equity’s 99-Seat Plan, as the Loretta will?

A: I never think of it as too small. I just get so happy: “We’re full!” A full house is a full house. For me, it’s just like church--it’s more about the quality of what’s happening than the amount of people who see it. That has to be, or why do theater? There are always going to be a million more people who see any bad movie.

Q: But isn’t it harder to get great people to work for the token salaries they get under the 99-Seat Plan?

A: That’s true. But you can get people to give extra money for a particular artist who needs it. I guess these are highfalutin expectations from 99 seats. But in a way, there is such freedom in a smaller theater. You don’t have a huge budget.

Q: What’s happening with the Loretta?

A: We’ve raised over half our capital campaign. People are starting to rally behind the theater.

Q: Does the company hope to open something in the next year?

A: Yes, but we don’t know what.

Q: Would you like your plays to have their first full productions at the Loretta from now on?

A: Absolutely. I’m writing a new play for the Loretta. Of course [laughing], it could easily be turned down by the board. As a playwright, you never know. It’s so easy not to get your play done.

Q: Why do you live in L.A.?

A: I love it. It’s a great place to write plays. If I lived in New York, I’d be of the petty nature of looking at the New York Times every day and trying to figure out: “What is the trend? Look who’s doing well and I’m not.” It’s good to dissociate myself from that and just write what concerns me. L.A. gives me that opportunity. And I love that people here have dreams. There’s such a lack of tradition, which is the opposite of where I grew up in Mississippi. Even though they’re foolish and fanciful dreams and probably doomed to failure, at least people have them, and I love the energy of that.

Q: You write movies here, too.

A: I love to write movies. It’s so much easier than writing a play. You get so much more money, and I work with really creative people who teach me a lot.

Q: All of these are reasons why many playwrights who move here stop writing plays. Why do you continue?

A: Because I’m obsessed with theater. I love it when a roomful of people respond to something that’s really alive. Also, you sell your copyright when you sign on to be a screenwriter. That is demeaning for a creative person. You don’t do that when you write a play.

Q: Have you received more money in total from your movies than from your plays?

A: So, so, so, so much more. A play is like an expensive hobby.

Q: Has the recent drama in Washington, D.C., inspired you at all as a playwright?

A: It makes me want to write about people as they truly are, not about this black-and-white “You did bad and we did good.” All the ugliness and piety and hypocrisy of impeaching the president is scary. I want to go into this new year with hope and diligence.

Q: With President Clinton and Paula Jones coming from the South, does it inspire you at all to write about characters like them?

A: It certainly reminds writers that there is a lot to write about. Never let it be said that it’s not a fertile world. Plots, characters, situations--it’s amazing.