David Greenspan with Target Margin: performed his monologue play The Argument (Obie), acted in Dinner Party and wrote Old Comedy; two performance Obies: one for Faust (Target Margin) and Some Men, one for The Boys in the Band; recent Marie Antoinette, Melancholy Play, solo renditions of Barry Conners’ The Patsy and Gertrude Stein’s lecture Plays; his own plays Jack, The Home Show Pieces, 2 Samuel 11, Etc., Dead Mother, She Stoops to Comedy (Obie), The Myopia, Go Back to Where You Are, Jonas and Coraline (w/Stephin Merritt). Obie Sustained Achievement.

TMT: You’ve worked with TMT before, notably with The Argument & Dinner Party. What was it about The (*) Inn that got you to scratch your Yiddish itch and visit the TMT shtetl again?

DG: Actually, I first worked with David and Target Margin on Goethe’s Faust. I mention this because it was a three-year project: we presented three sections of the play in separate productions – then put those parts together with the remaining sections in a production of the entire play. Thus my initial work with Target Margin amounted to four productions. And of course my subsequent work with the company has been very meaningful to me. I feel very much in synch with David’s aesthetic and methodology – and am rewarded by an ongoing working relationship with him.

TMT: You’ve been described by many as “a classicist in experimental clothing.” Do you think The (*) Inn could be described the same way?

DG: As some people know, David is deeply versed in classics – and demonstrates a wide-ranging knowledge of literature. He approaches these materials, though, with a modern sensibility. And that is quite evident in this production.

TMT: This a question I’ve always wanted to ask you but never have and I’ve finally found the chutzpah. How is it that you are such a nice guy? I mean really. REALLY. And please don’t tell me its yoga.

DG: I’m glad you find me cooperative and pleasant. I try to infuse my work ethic with sense of good-spiritedness.

TMT: You play Shakhne, the wise old grandfather in The (*) Inn. Now besides holding back tears while grating horseradish, what would you say has been the most challenging part of the rehearsal process?

DG: I find every aspect of every part in every play challenging – discovering the character and the character’s actions in relationship to the overall action of the play. That’s certainly been the case here.

TMT: Also many might not know this but while the play is in English, Yiddish is used throughout. Can you drop a little Yiddish knowledge on us gentiles?

DG: I was exposed to some Yiddish from my older European-born relatives – by which I mean just hearing them speak – and brought up in a cultural milieu in which conversations were lightly peppered with Yiddish words and phrases. But I defer to experts on the Yiddish language and culture.

photo by Erik Carter: David Greenspan in The (*) Inn.