Clare Barron (Performer) is a playwright and performer from Wenatchee, WA. Her plays include You Got Older (Page 73, dir. Anne Kauffman) and Baby Screams Miracle (Clubbed Thumb Summerworks). She’s the recipient of the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship and the Paula Vogel Award at the Vineyard. With Target Margin, she’s appeared as Miranda in The Tempest and Nanny-N in Uncle Vanya.

TMT: You were in multiple productions with Target Margin in the past, such as The Tempest and Uncle Vanya. Why keeps you coming back for more? What stands out about Reread?

CB: I love working with David. Before anything in theater I was a (very bad) ballerina and piano player, and so there’s a certain kind of precision that I crave when I’m acting and David’s way of working lets me indulge that. But it’s also very emotional! And alive! And I love that, too. The Tempest and Uncle Vanya were these big epic ensemble shows with spirits and candlelight and (real!) bears and so many chairs! Reread is like a tiny bejeweled music box – intimate and lovely.

TMT: As both a playwright and an actor, how do you respond to Stein’s language?

CB: Ha! Well…I was very skeptical of Stein, to be honest. I don’t like things that are purposefully “arty” or obtuse in an elitist sort of way… And my prejudice coming into  this project was that Stein was sort of the epitome of all that! But living in Stein’s language feels very different. It feels poignant and playful. There’s a lot that’s very childlike, and a lot that’s very sad. I like thinking of it as a bunch of overheard conversations at a party… Or a crazy, trance-like headspace that you get to just swim in for awhile and dream… I dig it.

TMT: You play the piano on stage. Did you have to learn it for the production? What was the most challenging aspect during this process?

CB: I started playing the piano when I was 6. Then I stopped at 18  and didn’t touch it again (minus a few Christmas carols) for 10 years. The most challenging part, honestly, has been playing the piano inside of the play. I find that the mindset I have when acting is totally counterproductive to the mindset I need  to play the piano! So I have to sort of switch heads on  the fly. (Also! There are leaves falling on the keyboard the entire time!)

TMT: Gertrude Stein has time traveled to see one of her plays produced for the first time! What would she think?

CB: More panthers, please! Less acting. (I am obviously biased but I think she would be very pleased with our particular  production!)

TMT: What’s next?

CB: I have a show  going up at The Bushwick Starr this February called I’ll Never Love Again that I made from my actual 16-year-old diary. Also, I’ve had mono all summer and really need to chill out and sleep.