Interview: Playwright Elizabeth Dement of NO PLACE LIKE GANDERSHEIM at Skylight Theatre

In the spirit of their 40th season with its focus on Her Vision, Her Voice, Skylight Theatre Company is presenting the second of three new plays by female playwrights and directors, Elizabeth Dement's No Place Like Gandersheim, directed by Randee Trabitz. Opening on May 20, the play features an all-female creative and production team.

The central character is Roz, everybody's most passionate theater friend who is constantly promoting her next play. What makes her special? She's in medieval Germany and might just be the first ever woman playwright. But after presenting her new brazen sex comedy to the most important critic of all - the Holy Roman Emperor - and getting panned, Roz is catapulted into a time-warping journey through contemporary, though still medieval, Hollywood, going from "me too" to "times up" to the metaverse and beyond.

I was curious to find out the inspiration for Dement's lead character Roz, the time-traveling aspect of the play, and what insights the playwright learned along the way about women in the entertainment industry.

Thanks for speaking with me Elizabeth (Dement, pictured). What exactly is Gandersheim?

Gandersheim is a town in Germany where the first documented female playwright, a nun named Hrotsvitha, lived and worked in the 10th century.

Why do you think No Place Like Gandersheim makes a good story, and what does it mean to you?

When I discovered that a 10th century German nun wrote a sex comedy, I thought, "This is a woman I have to write about!" As I dove into my version of her story, I quickly learned that I wasn't just writing about the first woman in the entertainment industry, I was writing about what it means to be a woman in entertainment past, present and future.

Where did the idea for this play originate?

It was a combination of things. I've always admired Caryl Churchill's work, especially her ability to be fluid with time and space in her plays, and I knew I wanted to try something like that. I'd also been developing a screenplay with a production company, and I was finding that the notes I was getting were taking me farther away from my voice and the central point of the script. That's something most screenwriters have experienced in their careers.

Pictured: Charrell Mack and Jamey Hood in No Place Like Gandersheim by Elizabeth Dement at the Skylight Theatre. Photo credit: Jenny Graham

But what really surprised me was how some of the revisions suggested were blatantly sexist. And this was a film centered around female characters! In many ways, we're still dealing with issues of relevance and finding our voice in a male dominated industry, and I started wondering how far back it went... eventually I landed in a 10th century German abbey!

Besides this play, as a writer who often works in the theatre and with Hollywood studios, do you see hints of sexism, ageism, and general exclusion everywhere?

Unfortunately, sexism and ageism remain issues that women face every day, not just in our industry, but in virtually all aspects of daily life. We have made progress, particularly in recent years, post #metoo. But we only have to look at the statistics released by organizations like The Geena Davis Institute and Women In Film to see that we still have work to do.

Pictured: Lauren Gaw, Jamey Hood, Shannon Holt in No Place Like Gandersheim by Elizabeth Dement at the Skylight Theatre. Photo credit: Jenny Graham

Are any elements in this play taken from your personal experiences as a female writer in a male dominated business?

Absolutely! It's not a new idea that women tell stories differently than men. And I truly believe there's an audience out there that craves those stories since they are 50% of the population. But getting the green light to tell those stories, and tell them in the way I want to, means getting past the gatekeepers who don't always think that's the case. As one of the characters in my play says, "Art and commerce don't go together."

Pictured: Charrell Mack and Jamey Hood in No Place Like Gandersheim by Elizabeth Dement at the Skylight Theatre. Photo credit: Jenny Graham

Is that one of the reasons you decided to make it an all women production, and what differences have you noticed on the set so far with the team dynamic during rehearsals?

From the moment I conceived the play, my dream was to have an entirely female creative team for the production. Skylight Theatre Company took this dream and ran with it, and it's been an inspiring experience to collaborate with talented women artists to tell this story about talented women. The atmosphere in the rehearsal room has been warm and supportive in a way that feels really different than what I'm used to elsewhere. We make each other laugh, we have frank discussions about uniquely feminine issues and challenges, we bake cookies and other goodies for rehearsal and no, there's never a line for the bathroom, because we can use both the women's and men's restrooms!

Lauren Gaw, Shannon Holt, Charrell Mack, Jamey Hood in No Place Like Gandersheim by Elizabeth Dement at the Skylight Theatre. Photo credit: Jenny Graham

How much are you still tweaking and developing in this piece with director Randee Trabitz and the Skylight Theatre Company?

As with any new play, I've been doing rewrites throughout the rehearsal process, and even now, as we approach opening night, I am always watching for opportunities to make the script leaner and meaner. Randee and I have been friends for a long time and I have a lot of faith in her suggestions.

Have you had any big revelations about your writing process, the characters in your story, or even the take away from watching the evolution of the piece?

I absolutely love when the actors and the director discover things about the characters and the script that I didn't realize were there. There's that adage about the development process: the playwright first writes the script, and they know a certain amount about the play, and then the actors and director rehearse and learn a bit more about the play. And then, finally, the audience arrives to experience the show, and they know more about the play than anyone else. I've loved watching the play evolve as rehearsals progress and technical elements are added. I've marveled as scenes and characters that I've seen in my mind for years, finally come to life on stage. But, perhaps my favorite discovery is learning how my subconscious informed the themes of the piece in ways that are mysterious and moving to me. I'm very excited to share this personal, funny, moving play with our audience.

Pictured: Shannon Holt and Jamey Hood in No Place Like Gandersheim by Elizabeth Dement at the Skylight Theatre. Photo credit: Jenny Graham

Can you talk about any of your future projects, like the feature film that you have in development with Landline Pictures? Any new plays?

Regarding the film, I can only say that I love working with Landline Pictures. Amy Baer and Chris Ceccotti are inspired, gifted producers with what I think is a terrific mission: to create content about and for people over 50. I'm also currently working on a different feature set in the disco era, and I'm enjoying writing my first novel, which is based on a much more personal story.

No Place Like Gandersheim by Elizabeth Dement (pictured) performances begin May 20 and run at 8:30pm Saturdays, 3:00pm Sundays, 7:30pm Mondays (dark on Mondays, May 22, 29) through June 25, 2023. Skylight Theatre is located at 1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave, LA, 90027. Tickets are $20 - $45 for adults 18 over. Information and reservations: (213) 761-7061. Online ticketing: http://SkylightTix.org

Masks are no longer required, but are encouraged, for audiences in the theater and lobby areas. Sunday matinee performances of No Place Like Gandersheim have been designated as Mask Required to accommodate our immunocompromised patrons who are still at high risk, and for patrons who feel more comfortable attending with an audience that is fully masked. Run-time is approximately 90 minutes

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