Please give me your name, what part of the world you’re in, and favorite author.

Hello all.  My name is Nelson Clark (he/him) and I’ve been living in Portugal, on the gorgeous coast 20 miles outside of Lisbon, for seven years now. I love it here and it is unlikely that I will ever return to live in the US. My wife, Virginia, and our dog, Wyatt Earp Clark, and I landed in 2016 and haven’t looked back. However, I will always come back to visit family -- in Phoenix, where we lived for six years, and South Carolina, to see my sister, daughter and three grandkids. 

As far as my favorite author goes, I’m sorry to disappoint many, but I stopped reading fiction years ago. 72 years have found their way to me. My daughter and oldest grandchild lovingly named me the OWG (Old White Guy), which you may guess means that I was raised in the early 70’s on a literary diet of ODWGs (Old Dead White Guys). I understand and appreciate those whose lives are continually enriched and find meaning in reading, I do.  But  any reading I do now is limited to philosophy and science, from any gender. And even in those areas I’m hesitant to name a favorite. Why? For example, I always tell my daughter she is my favorite daughter. She is my only daughter, but I say that because, I tell her, she is the only one I am aware of so she must be my favorite, even if I had a dozen others -- and she gets the joke. So, to make a long story even longer, I don’t have a favorite author as it would diminish the value of all the long-forgotten women, men and others whom I have absorbed and gained so much from. And, finally, yes, I did end that sentence with a preposition. So sue me.

Tell us a little about your play.

Here is a brief synopsis of Remember Sara Wilde:  In her final therapy session, Sara Wilde confides a memory that sparks a deeper probe from Dr. Evelyn Skinner. When Dr. Skinner zeros in on the meaning of the memory, doctor and patient encounter a surreal revelation that will profoundly change them.

What gave you the idea to write it?

I’d read an article, in the New York Times? I don’t remember. It was about how certain young women were financing their college educations by becoming escorts. These were smart women studying for degrees, both undergrad and advanced, in psychology, medicine, engineering,  computer science, etc. For some it was very lucrative, tempting them to continue the practice long after university. For others it was the only way they could discharge the huge debt they would otherwise be chained to, for decades if not forever. I don’t recall if the article examined in depth the toll such a venture would take on these woman, but it was enough for me to wonder; what if? Also, I’d been reading articles at the time about a controversial college professor, quite popular with conservatives, having a bestselling book out and popular lectures on social media, who was making headlines about his stance on everything from the roles of the sexes to climate change (he was and is a climate denier). This, for me, was a perfect storm of elements to create the story you will see come to life on stage. 

How does it fit in with your body of work?

I have always written strong roles for women. Years ago I wrote a novel, The Woman Pope, about Johanna of Mainz who, in the 9th century, out of a wild desire to learn to read (a death sentence for most women at the time), disguised herself as a man and who would eventually rise to become Pope John VIII, John the English. Her incredible struggle to attain knowledge, wisdom and truth would get her killed and ultimately erased from history.  Many believe hers is a true story. The Catholic Church, not so much.

I have written many other short plays, most of which have been performed one or more times around the country and Europe, where women (and in two plays, non-binary folk) are the protagonists or principal characters, fully commanding their lives and the story, for good and/or ill. In my work, the women are always more complex, intelligent and wiser than their male counterparts. Again, for good or for ill, just as it is in life. For me as a writer, the attempt to get inside the heart and mind of another person, of any gender, is to develop empathy for the difficult but different paths we all take as humans. I believe this has helped me become a better man, father, husband, brother and son. 

Because they are short plays, under twenty minutes for the most part, I love to give the audience a surprise twist at the end. I want to elicit a mental gasp, or at least leave a provocative question in the audience’s minds after the blackout. Something to take home with them, and that something, whether the play’s a comedy or drama, is always psychological in nature.

B3 just had its First Festival of Feminist Theater. Why would audiences enjoy seeing a feminist festival of shorts?

It is such a broad category, “feminist” that encompasses so much more than gender inequality, and reaches into every aspect of modern life. Myself, as an audience member, would enjoy seeing elements of feminism that I hadn’t thought about or encountered before. I am interested in learning what I have missed, or misinterpreted about this movement. I want to be engaged with the problems, dreams and desires of people who just want to be treated the same as me, as someone who has had immense and often unconscious privileges his entire life, that others have never had. That, and there’s nothing like the setting of theatre to bring ideas, emotion and the electricity of a fleeting moment that is alive, on a stage.