AT THE FRINGE: David M. Korn's 'This Won't Take Long'

     It was late spring when I first met David Korn, and what I remember about that afternoon is the passion with which he spoke about his "current project."  I wasn't even sure what it was, but I knew that anyone that had THAT MUCH passion for a project certainly deserved to have it seen.  Well, here we are a few months later, and that passion has paid off.  That project is This Won't Take Long, a drama that has been selected as an entry in The 10^th Annual New York International Fringe Festival. 

 

     Given the amount of press that venue has received since Urinetown started there a few years back, competition is stiff among playwrights and the like to get into the now high-profile festival.  This drama, likened in tone to Doubt, seems a good fit as the subject matter is politically charged and controversial.  In a statement on the website for the show (www.thiswonttakelong.net), Korn explains the impetus for the play.   "A few years ago, I read an article in the New York Times about Earl Washington, Jr., a forty year-old black man who'd been in prison for seventeen years after being convicted of the rape and murder of a young mother. The Innocence Project had just had the sentence overturned, based on new DNA evidence. Washington had been manipulated into confessing to the crime by overzealous detectives. Washington has an I.Q. of about 69, which made it difficult for him to fully comprehend just what was happening to him. He knew nothing of the crime, but eagerly regurgitated information the detectives had unknowingly supplied during questioning.  This struck me as a perfect situation for a timely and dramatic play. This Won't Take Long is more about the nature of being questioned about a crime than the issue of guilt or innocence. Is Henry trying too hard to help? Is he telling them what they want to hear? If so, does it necessarily mean that he knows nothing of the crime? Henry may indeed be guilty, or he may not even know the girl. If the police are manipulating him, are they aware of it? These cases are all too common, and DNA evidence is now proving over and over how these "open and shut" verdicts were actually terrible miscarriages of justice."  Naturally, his research did not end there.  "I read a scholarly article in the Hofstra University Law Review by a professor who consulted on the case.  I was also able to obtain Earl's actually written confession.  But these cases are all too common, and there are a lot of accounts of them," says the playwright.

 

 

     Once the idea took root, the writing began, and continues through production: "Pre-production, I just try to get from the beginning to the end, and make it seem natural and spontaneous, since that's what these interrogations are like--no one's really in control.  In production, blocking effects everything.  So, I try to see what's too wordy and holding the actors back.  To me, acting is much harder than writing, so they're doing all the work at that point.  Less is always more." 

 

     The decision to submit the work to the Fringe Festival was also a process, but seemed a logical step, as Korn explains, "We did a reading, I was happy, and the Fringe deadline was coming up, so I submitted.  I just wanted to mount the show sooner than later. The Fringe has gotten quite a lot of notice after Urinetown, and it was a much better alternative than continuing to submit to theater companies who seem to think there's no urgency in getting to new material.  My first play, Acting Alone, a four character direct-address play about the entire life of Lee Harvey Oswald, has received a number a very successful readings, but no production.  And some theater organizations never even responded to the initial submission either way."  In Festival materials, This Won't Take Long is described as "drama, multi-media."  "They force you to pick two categories, and that was the least inaccurate second one.  There's a TV monitor on-stage throughout the play, showing the interrogation."

 

 

     Once selected for the Fringe Festival, David was fully involved in the production process, including selecting a director (Shango Amin ) and 3 Equity actors (Albert Christmas, John Speredakos and James Wetzel ).  He says, "I chose everyone, but it was mostly a matter of knowing someone who knew someone else, etc.  I had no desire to do auditions, and no time for it anyway.  Good actors are easy to find in NYC."

 

     So, now the play is being produced and performances begin shortly.  To generate interest, Korn and web designer Josh Singer have collaborated on an informative, easily navigated, and constantly evolving website, www.thiswonttakelong.net.  There, playgoers will find show times and dates, directions to the theatre and a link to purchase tickets. 

 

 

Like most artists, Mr. Korn is already at work on different projects.  "My next play is a one-woman show about Lotte Lenya.  She tells her life story and sings all those great old Brecht-Weill songs.  Again, simple, dramatic, and easy to produce.  I'm hoping to attract a recognizable actress, so I can experience the process of working with someone, one on one, to really make the piece her own.  I've also just always liked one-person shows." 

 

 

     For now, though, all of David's energy is focused on the task at hand.  Taking a few minutes from a busy pre-performance schedule, the playwright looks ahead to the future of the piece: "I want This Won't Take Long to receive solid exposure, so it can be picked up and produced Off-Broadway, or regionally.  At the risk of seeming immodest, there's no reason it can't be the next Doubt.  It's a very accessible, classically dramatic play, that's not too hard or expensive to produce."  Once performances are underway, Korn and his work will be one step closer to having that future become reality.

 

PHOTOS: Top: David M. Korn; Bottom: (L to R) John Speredakos, Albert Christmas and James Wetzel.  Photos and show logo courtesy of Mr. Korn.

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