MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT: AN INTERVIEW WITH KAREN BRAM CASADY

By Modje Taavon | Editor of Articulate—a new graduate student journal of Literature and Rhetoric studies at Cal-State University, Northridge.

An excerpt from Octopi Wall Street will be published in the forthcoming special inaugural edition.

What prompted you to write Octopi Wall Street?
I read an article by Donna Haraway ("Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene, " E-Flux Journal #75, September 2016) that raised the issue of the affects of climate change on other non-human species. That idea piqued my interest and I began to read other articles about the offbeat effects of climate change. But rather than present the results of the research from only a human perspective, it seemed illustrative to present the offbeat effects of climate change in an equally offbeat manner.

What was the most “offbeat” effect you researched?
I’d say it was the Swiss glacier, Tsanfleuron, that, like other glaciers, is melting but as it melts it is giving up the dead bodies of people who have been lost trekking across it. I thought it would be interesting to address climate change from the point of view of the glacier. You know, to imagine what it must feel like “…to evaporate into cumulus and nimbus and cirrus.”

Ah, the glacier…
Yes. And I wanted the glacier to be a constant presence and in a constant state of loss. As a metaphor of sorts for the changes we are all beginning to feel as a result of climate change.

You make the point that 20% of the world’s population living in developed countries perpetrates the dire effects of climate change on the rest of humanity living in underdeveloped parts of the world.
That’s right. And I make it more than once in the play along with the point that people living in developed parts of the world hardly feel the change. As Doug says, “Folks in California lose their lawns. Folks in Somalia lose their food and water sources.”

You just won a Kennedy Center award.
Yes. The opening monologue of the play was chosen as the 2019 Monologue Selection at the Kennedy Center Region 8 American College Theater Festival. It also won the best actor and best director award. I was over the moon!

And you are a recent grad.
Yep. Class of 2019. I tell people that I’ve been hooded, honored and commenced with my MA in English/Creative Writing from Cal-State University Northridge – a bucket list thing for me. I’ve been a journalist and business writer all my professional life. Now I’m embarking on what will be my next career as a playwright and producer.

Well, good luck with everything. We can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thanks!

Karen Bram Casady BA, MA is a playwright, poet and short story writer. She made her living as a corporate communications consultant working with companies such as Kaiser Permanente, Southern California Edison and the City of Los Angeles. Octopi Wall Street is her second Fringe show. Last year she wrote and produced Fresh Meat that played six sold-out shows and won an Encore Producers Award.