Video: Inside Rehearsals for N/A with Holland Taylor and Ana Villafañe
Jun 11, 2024
In this video, watch as the cast and creative team of N/A shares more about the new play!
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Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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Holland Taylor and Anna Villa Fanié are returning to the New York stage for eight weeks only
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at Lincoln Center's Mitzie Newhouse Theater and Mario Correa's New Play, N.A., directed by Diane Paulus
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and I caught up with all of them during a break in rehearsal. I mean, this came together in the space of about 10 days
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I swear to God. And, you know, if they hadn't gotten a very strong director, I don't think they could have pulled us together that fast
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Because, you know, Diane Paulus is doing it, then people will come in and produce, and, you know, it's a short run
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So people are producing this to make a ton of money on it
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They're producing it because they believe in the work, and the work in this time
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What are you looking forward to the most about being back on stage again? Feeling that confidence of knowing that you've prepared something
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and then delivering it. I mean, it's really a wonderful moment. if you're confident in what you've created with the author and everybody
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And here it is. Here it is. I mean, you know, sometimes I even feel like, get ready
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Get ready. This was a fast process for both of you in Holland, right
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Yes, it's been incredibly fast, and I cannot believe that we have an audience as soon as we do
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But we're putting in the work. We're in here every single day. We even started early
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like technically our rehearsals started on May 20th but we actually started coming in a week before just to just to hash through it and break it down together and to kind of establish our bond and our trust She fierce So I just been learning and observing her and absorbing everything that she is and does
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Like, she is the goal. Yeah. Without giving too much away, NA, fascinating women
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What can you tell us? Yes. So they are fascinating and they are closely inspired
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by real leaders, but it's not a biography play. It's a story that we see on stage
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very closely inspired by real events, but these are characters on the stage
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who find their own way to conflict and friendship and understanding. The idea of doing a two-hander play
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where they are two female characters that are leading figures in American politics
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Okay, first of all, let's talk about How often does that happen? I don't think there's another play like this
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And to work with actors like Anna and Holland and Mario, who is just a dream collaborator
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this is what we live for as directors, opportunities like this. You first got Mario's play and you read it
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What were your thoughts? What went through your mind? I even finished it. I thought I'm going to do this
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Because it's a really extraordinary piece of writing and it's different. I mean, it's a dialogue play
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of ideas, but the people, the characters who voice the ideas, have passions about the ideas So the feelings are holding up concepts So it very much a concept play It too not well sometimes warring concepts sometimes agreeing concepts and held in the form
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of a personal dialogue. But it's not a personal portrait of either of them. It's an evocation of each
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person. Honestly, when I first got the email and read the synopsis and kind of just glossed over what it was
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going to entail. I was, I was hesitant. I was nervous. I was like, okay, well, this is, this is a lot
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This is dense material. But then I read the script and Mario is so human and his humanity is what
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really comes through in the show. And it's a really, really great piece kind of detailing and
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navigating the nuances between a, in a relationship between these two women. So I think that's what
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Obviously, it's in the political landscape, but it really is about that relationship and where they see each other, real, recognizing real, and where they say absolutely not, and setting boundaries, you know, in terms of generation gaps, in terms of racial differences, in terms of just worldviews and perspectives, and where do we find common ground
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And I think that's highly relevant and also highly important right now in our country and in the world
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So I really really excited for us to share this His writing is really human I read this play I was moved by this play I laughed at this play And I thought this is a play that we need right now So it has to be done And it has to be
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done because it actually invites audience to say, you know what? There are different points of
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you in the world, but both are valid and both are needed. And you know what? Both points of you
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care deeply about progress and the future of our country. And that's something we can all
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get behind that we all need to lean into, that we all need to spend time thinking about
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Okay, being in the room with Holland and Anna, what has that been like watching the dynamic
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and watching them work? All right. They are two extraordinary, talented, fierce, intelligent
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emotionally sensitive, deeply caring human beings. And I'll tell you, this is a play about intergenerational learning and friendship
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and it is happening on stage and off stage. And that is a beautiful thing to witness
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What do you hope audiences take away after leaving N.A.? You know, I hope they come away with a better understanding of two extraordinary leaders
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and how they have forged a way forward and finding progress. And they'll laugh a lot
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There's a lot of humor in this play, as well as hopefully a lot of insight
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And I think it will be moving for them, but also it's a fun night out, which is what I really intended to do
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