In a mere one week from this Wednesday, we begin the TMT STEIN LAB at The Connelly Theater, and opening night will be graced with David Greenspan‘s Composition…Master-pieces…Identity, a new piece based on two of Gertrude Stein’s “lectures” and one “play”. We asked him some questions about working on this piece to prepare for his month-long run.

TMT: Do you remember your first Stein encounter?

DG: I don’t remember my first encounter with Gertrude Stein’s work but I remember encountering Plays, her lecture on theater. I have performed that lecture many times now. I recall reading The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas when I was in college. It was not assigned to me in a course – I think I had read it after reading Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast because I became interested in the American expatriates living in Paris before, during and after World War I.

In a way my experience of her work is like a puzzle. I’m not consciously trying to solve the puzzle – but as I continue to perform her texts more pieces of the puzzle fall into place. But like any fine writer, there is no end to the puzzle of her work.

TMT: How did you approach your particular Stein source material? How has that approached metamorphosed during the show’s development?

DG: My single intention is to understand her work by speaking it aloud as I rehearse and then to convey my understanding to the audience. The more I speak the lectures the more I understand them. I only occasionally break down the material to determine the meaning – speaking the text brings understanding. And as I said the pieces of the puzzle then fall into place. However, sometimes I think I have the right piece in the right place only to find later that it fits better somewhere else.

TMT: You have a special relationship with working with Stein in a theatrical setting. Are there any specific challenges and/or exciting aspects of translating her writing to the stage?

DG: I find the more I simplify my approach to speaking her work aloud, the more her thoughts and feelings are made apprehensible. Her ideas are complex but they’re stated very simply. When I first began performing Plays I “played” Stein. I don’t mean impersonating her – but making her a character. I don’t do that anymore. I no longer feel the need to “create a character” to convey the brilliance of her ideas and the humor she sometimes employs.

TMT: If you were to take Gertrude Stein to attend one of your favorite contemporary theater pieces, what would that be and how would your post-show discussion go?

DG: I sometimes wonder how she would feel and what she would think about my performance of her lectures.

TMT: Do you have a favorite line from Stein at the moment?

DG: Not really.

David Greenspan’s Compositions…Master-pieces…Identity opens at The Connelly Theater on May 27th at 7:30 and will be playing most weekends through the end of June. Tickets available HERE.