Turns out that understanding the why and how of play in our everyday lives is a serious business, but still a lot of fun! Listen back as Rebecca McInroy, Art Markman and Bob Duke of Two Guys on Your Head join Alison Preston, Kirk Lynn, and Sarah Abraham for a special presentation at the Texas Science Festival on the psychology, science, and performance of play!
Kirk Lynn
This is Just To Say-Tribute To Tony Hoagland
Listen back to a live taping of This is Just to Say with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy and Carrie Fountain as they welcome actor Richard Robichaux, scholar Dr. Carra Martinez, playwright Kirk Lynn, and poet August Huerta for a reading and tribute to the late poet Tony Hoagland.
V&B – The Future of Theater
In this episode of Views & Brews, join KUT’s Rebecca McInroy in conversation with Kirk Lynn, Steve Moore, Katherine Catmull, Adrienne Dawes, Liz Fisher and Paul Soileau to talk about the past, present, and future of theatre. What is the role of theatre today? How can theatre help us understand authenticity, society, identity and ourselves? And what are the possibilities for re-thinking theatre in our fast changing technological landscape?
Kirk Lynn
On this edition of The Write Up we chat with novelist, playwright, and professor Kirk Lynn about the craft of writing, the adventure of theater, and the deep desire to abandon society and escape into the wild. We also discuss his debut novel Rules for Werewolves.
Lynn began writing prose in college, but found the companionship of his desk and typewriter unsatisfying and so he took a chance on theater. It was on the stage that he found his passion for the human voice. Along with six friends, Lynn founded Austin’s Rude Mechanicals , now called the Rude Mechs. For nearly twenty years this growing company has produced some of the more daring and critically acclaimed plays to come out of Texas, a number of them penned by Lynn including Stop Hitting Yourself and Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century.
Lynn has a gift for voice. Whether he’s writing from the view point of a founding father, a new mother, or a runaway teenager, Kirk inhabits a voice to such depth that we forget the writer and engage the character. Rules for Werewolves is a chorus of voices narrating the struggles of a group of young people attempting to create an mini-utopia in the uninhabited houses of American suburbia. Lynn incorporates chapters of pure dialogue, first person point of view, and poetic inner monologues to trace the compelling story of the societal marginals.
We dive into what drives Lynn as a writer and the disciplines that shape his craft. We also talk about the path his career has taken since his early dreams of writing. We discuss his marriage to poet Carrie Fountain and how becoming parents has influenced both their work.
Lynn is currently Head of Playwriting and Directing in the Department of Theatre and Drama at the University of Texas. We talk about Lynn’s approach to teaching and the strange sensation of standing before a classroom of students as a presumed “expert.”
Years ago Lynn gave up alcohol. The experience has impacted how he approaches life and writing. He talks about drinking and sobriety with humor and insight.
Sitting with Kirk Lynn is a thrill. His energy and wit seem endless. Whether talking about Jack Kerouac, parenting, or public nudity, it’s always a pleasure to hear from this beloved Austin writer.
-Owen Egerton