BWW Q&A: Jay Martel on PARENTS IN CHAINS at Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara

JAY MARTEL has won Emmy, Peabody, Writers Guild of America, and American Comedy awards for his writing. He served as a showrunner, executive producer and writer for the award winning sketch show Key & Peele. He’s fulfilled the same functions on many other TV comedies, including Alternatino, Teachers, Halfway Home, and Strangers With Candy. His third novel, The Present, was published last year, and the film version, which he also scripted, starring Greg Kinnear and Isla Fisher, was recently released and is now streaming on Hulu. He’s written numerous other movies, including Get Hard, and is a contributor to The New Yorker, where his humor appears regularly. Jay’s plays have been staged in New York, Los Angeles, and now, Santa Barbara!

What inspired you to create the world premiere for Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara?

For a long time I've been wrestling with the way we communicate with each other, and what it does to us and our relationships. At the same time, as a father who has just seen one child off to college (and who is missing her terribly), I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a parent at this moment in time, what we give to our kids and what we expect in return. These two obsessions came together, as they often do when I write, and became the braid that started the creation of PARENTS IN CHAINS.

How would you describe your creative process when writing for theater versus television or film?

Theater is where I started and where I will end, it's the alpha and omega of writing comedy for an audience. The response to one's writing is immediate and unfiltered through editing, camera angles, studio notes and ratings -- it's like a burst of fresh air (or chilly air, if the response isn't what you want). As a result, I'm much more willing to take chances I might not take with a film or TV script, because I have confidence that the audience will tell me what's working. In my plays, I'm less likely to rely on existing templates and structures, and it's very freeing. If the three-act screenplay is a beautiful yet cloistered mansion, and the half-hour TV script is the tidy guesthouse next to it, the stage play is the open meadow behind them.

Could you share some insights on the role of regional theater in your overall creative process?

All my theater experience thus far has been in New York City and Los Angles, so I'm very excited to get my first regional production with ETC in Santa Barbara. Everyone at the theater from the very top down, from executive artistic director Scott DeVine to the department heads to the staff, has been incredibly welcoming and helpful and excited about the play, not to mention contributing ideas that improve it. I'm definitely going to be spoiled. It's going to be hard to go back to the rigors of a big city production.

How did you go about assembling the rotating all-star cast for this production?

Lots of of casting meeting, lots of talking about who's available and who's right for the six roles. Six roles is a lot to cast for any play, but when you have a rotating cast, it's amazingly complex. Fortunately, we've been working with Michael Donavan and Richie Ferris who are great and very patient, which is important because if we'd had casting directors who expected this to be a quick job, they'd have been very disappointed. It also helps that our wonderful director and producer, Andy Fickman and J. Todd Harris, have worked with a lot of people over the years, and between the three of us, we know a lot of great actors who can give us quick answers, and fortunately, a lot of those quick answers were "yes."

Can you share any interesting experiences or challenges you faced while working with a rotating all-star cast?

Ask me in a month! I guess one thing that came up in the casting process was actors sometimes not getting the all the information from their representation. A big draw for actors is not only the great company and theater but the fact that they don't have to memorize lines or rehearse very much, and that they can sign on for a week instead of the entire run.

What sets the Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara apart from other theater companies you've worked with?

At every level, the people I've dealt with at the ETC are super thoughtful and creative when it comes to problem-solving. They ask a lot of questions about the play that force me to think about it in news ways, which I love.

How has your experience been working at The New Vic Theatre?

Again, ask me in a month! We're not moving in for another few days.

How do you feel about your plays being staged in Santa Barbara, following New York and Los Angeles?

Great. Big cities are sometimes overwhelming to market to, and both NYC and LA have so much competition when it comes to live performance, it's sometimes daunting to get noticed.

What can the audience look forward to in this upcoming production?

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