Playwright Bryan Harnetiaux wants to make it clear that “Squalor” is not about him.
His latest work as Spokane Civic Theatre’s resident playwright, “Squalor” tells the story of William Kasinski, a mystery writer with a long, successful career that’s recently been hit with a period so slow that Kasinski begins to wonder if it might be time to put the cap back on the pen for good.
His agent suggests Kasinski write a memoir to reignite his career, and Kasinski agrees. In preparation, he heads back to his hometown to revisit where he came from. But once there, he meets an up-and-coming young adult novelist who forces Kasinski to reckon with events of his youth that he’s long ignored and the impact those events had on his career.
“Squalor” premieres Friday and runs through May 10. The play stars Jamie Flanery, Lynn Noel, Lily Savage and Hillary Squires and is directed by Susan Hardie. Harnetiaux, Hardie and the cast will participate in two post-performance conversations, Sunday and May 8.
For the first time in his writing career, Harnetiaux decided to focus his story around a writer, thinking of artists who devote their life to their work and must one day come to terms with the fact that creating is getting harder.
It’s exhilarating and exhausting to write a play, Harnetiaux said, and he’s been around enough writers, and even experienced the idea himself, who wonder “Do I have anything left in the tank?”
He put those thoughts on Kasinski, a writer late in life who is at a crisis. That was the jumping off point for Harnetiaux and he developed “Squalor” from there.
“You carry (the play) around with you, like your wallet, and you take little notes here and there, and it develops,” he said. “It’s rarely a flash of lightning. It’s a very incremental process.”
For her part, Hardie agreed to direct “Squalor” before the play existed, simply trusting that Harnetiaux would create a piece she would be interested in.
He appreciated the pressure of a deadline her agreement gave him and said he was only a little late turning in the first draft.
As he was writing, Harnetiaux counted on Hardie to let him know whether his mystery made sense, whether he was revealing too much or too little, whether he was building the story in a way that wouldn’t leave the audience confused or like they were ahead of the play.
“I’ve never really done a mystery before, so this interaction between us was a whole new dynamic,” Harnetiaux said. “It was really very unusual for us to meet while I’m still writing. Normally, I closet myself and pound out a draft, but I couldn’t do that in this instance, so it was really Susan-Bryan until early January.”
Hardie credits their artistic connection to the fact that they can be honest with each other. The pair met three to five times for an hour or two to talk about the play and suggest edits. Discussions got pretty deep, Hardie said, and the pair didn’t pull any punches.
“Bryan used the word ‘exhilarating’ to stress his feelings about that part of the process, and I have to agree,” she said. “I would leave Bryan’s house after those discussions walking on air. Development is a very fascinating thing, working with a playwright in development, and this is all Bryan’s play, but to have had a peek into his process and an opportunity to, at least, have some little part in that, really it’s like a high.”
Hardie and Harnetiaux first worked together in the early ‘80s on a play of Harnetiaux’s called “Garage Sale,” in which Hardie starred.
The next year, she starred in his play “Safe at Home” about the first woman to play in Major League Baseball. Preparation for the role involved an ankle-spraining lesson about sliding into home base from the then-baseball coach at Gonzaga University that the pair laugh about today.
“It’s been a long and really quite wonderful collaboration,” Hardie said.
Other collaborations have included “York,” a play Harnetiaux co-wrote with David Casteal, who also starred in the show, about the only Black man on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Hardie directed the show, which would take the trio around the western and southern United States and, eventually, off-off Broadway.
Hardie also appeared in one of a trilogy of plays by Harnetiaux about the end of life.
For their current collaboration, the pair has been considering notes from their cast about the characters.
“Everybody’s feeling, I think, empowered because of this privilege and really embracing the notion of creating something with the playwright that is new and nobody’s ever seen before,” she said. “They’re all riding high on that notion.”
There are moments of confusion when something is not gelling with the rest of the production, but the work to find the solution is an exciting opportunity, Harnetiaux said.
“Things happen in the rehearsal process that are unforeseen, and that can be so revelatory, and that’s the miracle of theater, and the collaboration between the actors and the director and the set designer and the playwright who’s there, hopefully now just listening and watching and seeing what’s happening in real time,” he said. “It’s a joy for me, too. It’s work for all of us, but there is a joyfulness and an adventurous aspect of it that you just can’t ignore.”
During the premiere run of “Squalor,” Harnetiaux will make note of how audiences respond to the play. He will also debrief with Hardie and the actors and will likely make a few more edits to the script.
From there, he doesn’t have any set plans for “Squalor,” as far as entering the play into festivals, but he will likely send it to trusted reviewers and will work to get the play published.
The theater world sometimes moves at a glacial pace, he said, so he’s not putting pressure on the timeline. He had a play premiere at Civic in 1988 that didn’t get published until 15 years later, so he knows the importance of being patient.
“I’m off the beaten path,” he said. “I don’t have an agent. I work out of a community theater.
“I don’t see them as impediments, because I have been blessed to have a home at the Civic but they are an unorthodox way to try to promote a play. It’s a long game.”
If You Go
‘Squalor’
When: Friday through May 10. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays.
Where: Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St.
Cost: $20/students; $35/adults.
Note: This show is recommended for ages 14 and older.
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Article by Azaria Podplesky
Photos by Ryan Wasson