Here Comes the Judge: Adam Rapp

Portrait of the Artist as a Somewhat Pixilated Young Man

Please meet the multiskilled Adam Rapp. In addition to winning considerable accolades as a playwright and director, he recently directed his first feature film and published his first adult novel (he's published lots of young adult and graphic novels). And he's in a band and just sort of effortlessly cool and if he weren't so lovely we'd be consumed with jealousy and rage. His new play Essential Self-Defensehttps://www.playwrightshorizons.org/now_main.htm opens imminently.

Name: Adam Rapp

Title/Position: Playwright/Director

How did You become involved with the theater: Largely through my little brother's generosity with extra tickets, I started seeing shows after I moved to NYC in '91 and fell in love with the idea of holding a live audience captive. I had no formal training.

What do you think makes a piece of theater extraordinary: When something happens that makes you forget you're watching a play. Like if someone's nose starts bleeding or someone really falls in love. Or when a murder seems like it's actually happening and I want to charge the stage. When the dream of the play becomes more real than life.

What are some plays or performance pieces from the past several years that have remained with you, that are favorites: Richard Maxwell's "House". Gerald Gutierrez's production of "The Heiress". New York Theatre Workshop's production of "Mad Forest". Richard Nelson's "Good Night Children Everywhere" at Playwrights Horizons. Danny Hoch's "Jails, Hospitals, and Hip-Hop" at P.S.122. Reading Sarah Kane's "Blasted" on the F train and completely forgetting where I was going, getting off at the Neptune Avenue Stop in Brooklyn and then taking a walk.