Ben Crowley, Ted Heyck and Meghan Andrews in “The Empty Man.” Photo by Anne McGrath.
I wrote my first play at the age of nine. It was about animals destroying the “human land” and fighting for their rainforest. My school performed the play for Earth Day. There I was, chubby little nine-year-old me having my first production of what at the time felt like a full-length play (it’s only about 12 pages). To this day, I remember my friends reciting lines I wrote and watching scenes that I had imagined in my head being developed on a stage. That moment propelled me into this dream of being a playwright.
I had two primary dreams at that age: playwriting and opening up a bakery. You’d think that the latter option would have a simpler career path. Truth is, I’ve never received a phone call saying, “Hi, I’m Betty Crocker. I love your recipe and would like to use it in my bakery.” I have, however, received a phone call along the lines of, “Hi, my name is Daniel Henning, I’m the artistic director of the Blank Theatre Company and your play The Empty Man is a winner of the Young Playwrights Festival. We’d like to produce it here in LA.” If the universe didn’t want me to be a playwright, then it was giving me some very mixed signals.
Danny Rothschild
As I grew older, the reality of becoming a writer became slightly more disheartening. But receiving the kind of support, recognition, and encouragement that the Blank provides has inspired me to continue writing and has made this crazy dream a lot more fathomable.
The Empty Man, like all my plays, is about an experience I have had. More specifically, it is about my time spent living in England. While the story is fictional, the emotional truth behind it is real. It is a story about a very old man who has not left his apartment in a very long time, and a young couple that knocks on his door by mistake. The serendipitous moment of this modern-day couple meeting a man who no longer recognizes the world he lives in raises questions about change, about ambitions, about the “unanswerable questions,” clinging to things and letting them go. As the three of them converse and tell each other stories, the differences between cultures become as prevalent as those between generations.
The Young Playwrights Festival has been a remarkable experience thus far. My mentor, the highly distinguished writer David Rambo (Revolution, CSI, God’s Man in Texas) has kindly dedicated his time and knowledge to helping me revise my script. The play is being directed by Michael Matthews (The Color Purple, Wolves) whose staging of Peter Pan, The Boy Who Hated Mothers is wonderfully theatrical and now playing on the Blank mainstage. The cast of The Empty Man is made up of three phenomenal actors (Ted Heyck, Meghan Andrews, Ben Crowley) who are volunteering their time and talents to my play.
The Blank has gone above and beyond offering me an incredible opportunity to produce my play. When I studied in England, it was not easy to be a part of the process, but the wonderful people at the Blank worked with my schedule to make sure I’d be able to see the performance, found friends to put me up for several nights, and offered me rides to and from rehearsals. Their kindness and willingness to invest so much in me is extraordinary. In a world where dreams of being a writer are laughed at and followed by, “What’s your back-up?,” I cannot thank these people enough for all they have done.
Ben Crowley and Ted Heyck
Thanks to the YPF, the opportunities that have opened themselves up to me are the reason I’m still writing, and passionately so. They are the reason I boarded a 12-hour flight from London to LA (and when asked if I was entering the country for business or pleasure I replied, “Business — my play is being produced”). These opportunities are the reason I’m still chasing after this dream, and the reason I’m getting a little bit closer.
I’m nearly 20 years old, and the era of young writers’ contests and festivals will be over for me, but there are writers as young as nine receiving opportunities to come to LA and see their plays come to life in an incredible theater, with first-class actors and directors. The Blank’s unmatched generosity, enthusiasm, and respect for young writers is nothing short of inspiring.
The friends and connections I have made will hold strong throughout my lifetime, and the Blank’s long list of successful YPF alumni will have an amazing group of people to eternally thank.
The Empty Man, Blank Theatre’s 21st Annual Young Playwrights Festival. Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., LA, 90028. Opens tonight. Thu-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm. Tickets: $14—$20. www.TheBlank.com. 323-661-9827.
**All The Empty Man production photos by Anne McGrath.
Danny Rothschild has had two one-acts (A Ninth Time, Sweetheart) published by YouthPLAYS, was a 2011 finalist for Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Inc., and a 2012 YoungArts finalist in writing. He is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, studied creative writing at Bath Spa University in England, and is now living in New York City.