ear Diary: Last night I had the most extraordinary dream that I had graduated from college and received a degree in Spoken Word. Subsequently, I traveled the world, spreading my keen wit and carving out a unique niche among the current crop of dialogue vagabonds. I stormed stages with the force of Henry Rollins, successfully mocking dominant ideologies, I extended my creative abilities in the style of Eric Bogosian, writing screaming satires and turning them into plays, movies and novels (but mostly just visiting various venues and speaking my mind). Then I woke up. I realized that there exists no such degree—that masters of this dramatic literary craft honed their skills while pursuing other vocations. In order to better understand just what it takes to segue into spoken word, I tracked down writer/actor Spalding Gray, a man slated for a Thursday, April 3 appearance at the University of Utah.

Gray has built a career on formulating and performing autobiographical monologues, a feat that has spanned over 20 years. His interest in drama truly took hold in the 1970s with the creation of The Wooster Group, a New York City-based theater troupe devoted to an all encompassing focus on the many sides of performance art. Through the group, which boasts actor Willem Dafoe among its founding members, Gray began developing ideas for his own shows.

His earliest material emphasized individual journeys, most notably numerous forays into the surreal world of Hollywood. He appeared in such films as “The Killing Fields,” on which he turned his experience working into “Swimming to Cambodia,” which was documented on film by Jonathan Demme. However, youthful introspection was replaced with a newfound awareness regarding the mass complexities and responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Suddenly, his repertoire broadened. No longer solely concerned with himself, Gray started speaking about the people who helped put previously held values into perspective.

The 1999 monologue “Morning, Noon and Night,” tackled issues on everything from rearing four children to dealing with the physical and emotional scars of an automobile collision that occurred on his 60th birthday.

His current project, “It’s a Slippery Slope,” is a mature reflection on life, death and skiing. Ending one relationship and starting another are milestones that help shape the theme of the piece. It is a monologue based on risk and experimentation at a time in one’s life when one is expected to settle down.

The RED Interview
Arguably, one of the golden rules of thumb regarding the creation of fiction purports the strict avoidance of the direct transfer of real life into story, as the representations may not be quite so compelling for those unfamiliar with your life. That said, how does one go about forming autobiographical material that will successfully entertain an audience? According to Gray, the process is not as daunting or complex as one might assume: “I just do it,” he says. “And it’s worked so far.”

Since the majority of his works involve portrayals of members in his inner social circle, surely there exists some concern as to how people will react. Certainly there are dangers inherent in the airing of personal laundry, whether the verbal cloth be dirty and sordid or completely mundane. Though not one to shy away from potentially colorful subject matter, Gray admits to editing monologues to help soften the blow. However, self-censorship should not take center stage in the attempt to produce work that apparently mirrors reality, for (save for those in idealistic denial), life is far from perfect. The level at which people are able to relate to Gray’s experiences will help determine the success and longevity of a show.

In order to keep both his subjects and audience satisfied, Gray must become the ultimate chemist, mixing self-disclosure and confidentiality to produce the perfect spectacle.

His advice to anyone attempting to succeed in making life an open book is as follows: “Be prepared to offend your friends.” It seems a small price to pay for artistic freedom.
Though Gray claims that his performances vary little from venue to venue, stressing that he “tries to avoid improv,” it should prove interesting to see how an injury procured on Snowbird’s slippery slopes will affect his Salt Lake City show.

Come see for yourself at the Union Ballroom (be prepared to take notes).
jamie@red-mag.com