Review Fix Exclusive: Jake Rose and Jamie Thomson Talk ‘A Brief Introduction to Astrophysics’

Review Fix chats with playwrights Jake Rose and Jamie Thomson about their newest production “A Brief Introduction to Astrophysics,” currently running at this year’s Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City. Rose and Thomson also discusses how their creative process and how a trip across the country ultimately played a huge role in the production.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this production?

Rose: In September we were traveling across the country and ended up staying for two weeks in a very remote cabin in the southwest of Montana.  We got a library card at the nearest town and every few days we would take a long drive to get groceries and books.  For a week we read and hiked and didn’t speak very much to each other.  During the second week we drafted the first copy of A Brief Introduction to Astrophysics, a play that reflected both our silence and the question’s we were asking ourselves at the time, being so lost in the wilderness and feeling relatively insignificant.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Thomson: We have a few different methods but usually our writing process starts with games or exercises, handwriting monologues and collaborating on poems, creating prompts for each other and then free writing and sharing.  Once there is a strong idea we write together, simultaneously editing a single document, and if we reach an impasse we separate, write alternate ideas, and then come back together to see what material works best with the piece.

Review Fix: What makes you different from other playwrights?

Rose: Both of us come from a background of poetry and have primarily written poetry and short fiction, so writing for the stage is in some ways a departure for both of us.  However, we have found it to be at times an even more accepting home for our writing.  While we do love to read plays and attend the theater, most of the content of our work is inspired by novels and poems.  This fundamentally changes the plays we write as they tend to bridge the gap between literature and theater.

Review Fix: Is this what you always wanted to do?

Thomson: We had other dreams, respectively hoping to be a professional baseball player and a comedian who owns a pizza restaurant.

Review Fix: What makes this production special?

Rose: The play’s focus is more on what is said or unsaid rather than what is done or left undone.  There is not a lot of dramatic action, so much of the tension is in the words and the spaces in between.

Review Fix: How is your cast unique?

Thomson: Our entire cast graduated from the same college this past May, and five out of the six of us studied abroad together at the British American Drama Academy in London.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Rose: We’ve learned a lot more about all the considerations it takes to put up a play.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of this festival?

Thomson: We were shocked when we heard the news!  We feel very lucky to have the opportunity to stage our work and never imagined we would get the chance.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the production?

Rose: Our goal is to see our vision of the play realized, and to see how close we can get to articulating the specific feeling that for us this play evokes.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Thomson: Our play is for everyone.  We hope that it will function as a kind of check-in or check-up to see how people are feeling and how happy we all are.  Very happy?  Medium happy?  The whole piece is kind of an elongated moment of introspection.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Rose: We’ve both been continuing to write our own poetry and fiction, but there are certainly more plays on the horizon.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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