https://reviewfix.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/f04782a9-1687-4a33-851a-29c415551ae8-e1465917617983.jpg”> Review Fix chats with Playwright Mona Curtis, who discusses her new production “The Post Modernist,†which is set for a run at this year’s Midtown International Theatre Festival.
For more on this production, click here.

THE POST MODERNIST by Mona Curtis, directed by Maria Aladren. The Post Modernist is the story of social science gone awry. Do we really want to kill all the stupid people? A chilling look at bumbling bureaucracy. (Absurd Comedy)
Performance Schedule:Â Mon 7/18, 8:30pm; Thurs 7/21, 6:00pm; Sat 7/23, 4:30pm
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?
Mona Curtis: I wrote this play when I was a grant administrator in a community college in Oregon. I was ready to go batty with all the forms, objectives, initiatives, and compliance documentation, none of which contributed meaningfully to the what was really important—what happens in the classroom with the students.  I think anyone who lives in modern America can relate to a bureaucracy that has become a force in itself and is frustrating its own purposes as well as all the people involved.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Curtis: Other than a few introductory classes in art and theater in college, I am a self-taught artist and playwright. Images, phrases, situations, and scenarios build up within me until I have to release them in a play or in a picture. Many of my plays and pictures come to me in dreams.
Review Fix: What makes this different or special?
Curtis: I have a world view that is different from most of the art world. The play is not a Christian play nor is it in a Christian venue. But I am a Christian and the play reflects my beliefs.
Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Curtis: What a great question. This is my first production. I guess I just learned to be brave. Like I said, I have pictures and plays (and a myriad of other things) inside of me. I attended a playwriting workshop several years ago taught by Eugene Lee and hosted by the id Theater’s Seven Devils  Playwright’s Conference. Lee related that many people have told him that they “have a play inside of them.â€Â His response is “It’s not doing anybody any good in there.â€Â It takes a ton of courage to get these stories first out of ourselves and secondly out to the public.
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?
Curtis: I am by nature very reserved and introspective. It’s very hard for me to collaborate with people, but it’s necessary and its healthy. It’s inspiring for me to be among a group of like-minded people who share in my vision.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?
Curtis: Although THE POST MODERNIST deals with very profound issues like the sanctity of human life, it is a light and funny play. And it has a large cast. I can easily see it as a high school production. Community theaters, too, might enjoy producing the play.
Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?
Curtis: The characters. When I first wrote the play, I did not give the characters names or a gender. They were personality types like Social Scientist, Intellectual, Mr. Nice Guy (or Ms. Nice Guy), etc. And although they all have names and genders now, they mostly represent a class of people or maybe a worldview. The play is about conflicting philosophies and ends with embracing our humanity and our stupidity and moving forward.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Curtis: To date, I have written three plays, THE POST MODERNIST, THE WEB, and SODOM. Among them, SODOM is the most ambitious. It is a musical and a dream play, but also (subliminally) deals with the issues of Christianity, Judaism, and most importantly, the issue of why there is so much suffering in the world.
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