Tenara moves on to Lost Tribe’s Michael Leibenluft to continue her Lab sneak peaks!

TMT: What drew you to choose The Wanderings of Benjamin III as your source material?

ML: I was drawn to the idea of adventure or travel as a process or even metaphor for self-discovery, Benjamin’s quest for companionship and a lost community, how the story played with the role of the narrator, and its’ fantastic sense of humor and the way it toys with the concept of literary allusion.  I also loved the idea of going on a journey and not getting anywhere at all, or going on a journey to get somewhere when really you’ve been there all along.

TMT: How would you characterize Benjamin III in this source material and in your adaptation?

ML: Benjamin III is very sneakily and deeply embedded in our piece, but it probably won’t be apparent to most of our audiences.  We’ve taken our response to the story — our struggles with pathos and admiration for Benjamin, or intrigue in the imaginative worlds that are created and frustration with the circular narrative — and stuck them in our story.  But we’ve also created a tender and sparse theatrical world around our performers and what they bring to the stage.  Both the play with form and fundamental themes of the Benjamin story — quest, community, companionship, and loss — are in our work, but it is all filtered through our unique interests, obsessions, and shortcomings.

TMT: What are three words to describe your Lab show?

ML: I actually chose four words: vulnerability, loss, jewels, and candles.