Review Fix chats with The Island of No Time (A Timeless Tale) director Kristen Lowman, who discusses what’s like to be a part of the 10th anniversary season of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity at the Theaters at the Clemente.
About the Production:
Mother Time has stormed off leaving Father Time to his technology.
Time has stopped on the Island.
Hour, Minute & Second are unemployed.
With time to control them, Deliadeath and Adamort – two Macbeth-style witches – can now wreak havoc for all eternity. But just in case, they are now trying to inhabit the souls of two shipwrecked children in case Mom & pop Time patch things up.
With help from Badass, Natterjack, Nutty Tree, and the Queen of Stink, the race is on.
Will the children be saved, along with mankind and the planet? 
Will Father Time and Mother Time be reunited?
Only Time will tell.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?
Kristen Lowman: I had a two-week job in Maui, teaching kids acting. The final presentation was looming – and I just couldn’t do ‘The Three Little Pigs’ – so I wrote one scene with two witches, in verse. Put it away, forgot about it. And some time later I came across it…and I just let it tell me, take me. The characters came to me – it seemed I did not create them. I wrote for the sheer fun of it. And, of course, it was a mess, and over time I shaped it, put it away, took it out again, put it away, took it out again…and here it is – to be worked on again.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Lowman: My creative process is much like my acting process. Start with the truth, the feeling of something true in the belly. And go from there, not looking too hard on the insistent straight-ahead but, if this makes sense, looking/listening to the peripheral voices, images; they often lead you to what’s right for the story and not necessarily what you initially thought was ‘right.’  Often, too, you’ll spend a lot of time writing, working and stewing, only to discard it, and then (begrudgingly) thanking those papers in the trash can for taking you to the right creative entry, to what was really needed, sought, but could not have been found without that initial work and  investment of time. After all that – shape, trim, have an aerial eye.
Review Fix: What makes this different or special?
Lowman: Different or special from…what? I do know this is different from anything I have written before and I suspect it will stand alone in my work. It is unto itself, with its imperfections. It is special only in that it delighted me, surprised me – and reassured me that my imagination was ‘the well’ to be drawn from.
Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Lowman: Hm, I was surprised at my passion for the planet, life; surprised at my anger about what is being done to the planet, to the living. Yes, most of us have those feelings, voice them, but when writing, I was surprised at my ferocity, and, yes, there is humor –  have to have humor in life;we all do or we wouldn’t survive. I learned to trust my imagination.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?
Lowman: Like all playwrights, I’d like to see a production, with a big budget; would be moved to see people enjoying it, taking something memorable away.
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