Review Fix 2016 MITF Coverage: Renee McNeil Talks ‘The Double Heart’

Review Fix chats with playwright who discusses his new production, “The Double Heart,” which is set for a run at this year’s Midtown International Theater Festival.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Renee McNeil: Frankenstein, Sci-Fi/horror genre. The scientific breakthroughs of organ transplants, taking out a part of the brain that store negative experiences, emotions.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

McNeil: Idea/inspiration. A need to be explored. A change I would like to see. Then I take that and see if there are characters, a story with a beginning middle and end and themes.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

McNeil: It’s not like any of my other pieces. The style, story, characters themes are different.

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

McNeil: I trust the process more. Meaning me, even if I don’t understand all of what that story is at first. It comes out later or you just find the clarity or solution.

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

McNeil: I love it. I can explore, discover, create, collaborate, to be something greater and bigger then myself. I love MITF for that. That there are no boundaries, pressures. I can just be me with my work along the journey. I feel free. And I am appreciative and grateful for that. To literally have a vision and to be able to show that. That is cool. And really does make me feel like an artist. An original one because I am truly being me.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

McNeil: Maybe publish it, making it a part of a series/collection of shorts under a similar theme or title.

Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

McNeil: The characters, costumes, environment and what it is about.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 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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