Review Fix chats with Playwright Laure Porché, who discusses her new production “Woman Seeks God,†which is set for a run at this year’s Midtown International Theatre Festival.
WOMAN SEEKS GOD by LaurePorché, directed by Kate Szekely; starring Laure Porché. A young woman’s quest for meaning intersects with her ancestor’s quest for a home in this one-person exploration through time, movement and words. Fri 8/05 @ 7:15pm; Sat 8/06 @ 2:15pm
For more on this production, click here.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?
Laure Porché: I had been thinking for years about a way to honor the story of my Russian great grandmother, Ekaterina, who had been kind of “intentionally forgotten” by my family. When it became clear that the auditions grind was not for me, I started thinking about creating my own work, and she came to mind immediately. I started out with the intention of drawing a parallel between our experiences being in a “voluntary exile”. But as I was creating the show and things started unfolding in my life, it became clear that the subject was not broad enough. I had to bring in my own pervasive sense of being exiled on Earth, and tumultuous relationship with a Higher Power throughout my childhood and teens. Only then could Ekaterina story truly emerge in a larger context.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Porché: Well usually I start by writing, but in this case I began by locking myself in the studio for 2/3h at a time, improvising and seeing what came up physically, and then writing what I remembered of what I’d done, what was more striking to me. Having seen a lot of one person shows being developed, I was very aware that my original ideas might be completely erased or modified by the process, and also that I really had to keep it as simple as possible, to the point where I could literally bring the show with me anywhere, and perform it in any conditions.
When I added material last January, the process was way more straightforward. I knew more or less what I wanted to add, I just had to figure out where. And of course, some things emerged that I hadn’t even thought of, like the doll of St Thérèse that becomes the doll of Vassilissa’s story.
Review Fix: What makes this different or special?
Porché: It leaves way more freedom for things to emerge organically. If I had started by writing it, I might have become attached to my own ideas for the show and its form before seeing what it wanted to become. Only when it started to emerge did I start writing full texts, and even then I felt I was writing them randomly. That seemingly random order ended up being the actual order of the first version of the show, but I didn’t see it until my director, Kate Szekely, pointed it out to me.
Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Porché: I learned that I can trust who I am, that I am enough. I learned that I didn’t enjoy being other people as much as I enjoyed being my own self onstage. I learned that if I stepped back from needing to create something “good” and just created what I needed to say, it would be good. I learned that the more personal I am in what I reveal of myself, the more it resonates with audiences, even if my actual experience is completely foreign to them. I learned so many things, I can’t write them all here.
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?
Porché: It’s extremely freeing. This might seem strange but performing has never been my favorite part of being a performer. I enjoy the creating process, the community, the work itself, but performing always felt somewhat contrived to me. This show is completely different. The moment I step onstage, I know I have complete freedom. I can be myself, literally, since this is my story and I wrote it. If I am fully present, I can do no wrong. There is nothing more empowering.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?
Porché: If I am lucky enough to find a producer interested in the show, I would love for it to live as long as possible. I know it speaks to people, and it can spark questions that I think everyone need to ask themselves. Ideally I would love to travel with it and perform it anywhere people will have me.
Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?
Porché: The general consensus by people who’ve seen it is that they enjoy the fact that they feel moved and can relate to it regardless of their own experience with spirituality. I also think that it has a good balance of humour and depth, but that’s just the author talking.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Porché: So many things that have nothing to do with theater. Right now what’s next is two months of traveling, training and performing. Seeking God has done me good so far.
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