Meet Brianna Barrett | Playwright

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brianna Barrett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brianna, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Honestly I don’t feel like I had a choice. It’s weird how certain things grab hold of you and just never let go. I found writing and storytelling early in life — first as a form of play, then as a form of processing my thoughts and feelings and my place in the world.

I think the main distinction that defines when a person is “pursuing it as a career” is when you’re not making things just for yourself anymore and really truly approaching it from the standpoint of making it for someone else. I don’t mean that in the sense that you should be trying to fit yourself into someone else’s box or be something other people expect you to be — that’s not what I mean when I say you’re doing it for others. What I mean is, you know what you’re offering and why. Put your guts in it but don’t spill your guts on the audience. Know what experience you are trying to create for whom. I think to do that, you have to take your ego out of it. You have to take feedback in a way that allows you to keep your project goals separate from your feelings about yourself. At least, that’s what I try to do. Maybe the answer to the question of why I pursue a career in the arts is because I like that type of compartmentalization.

Usually my go-to feel-good answer is I just do it because I never want to stop making friends. I feel like theater in particular is a great path for people who never want to stop making crazy close bonds with really fascinating people.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Right now I’m super excited to have recently learned I am being honored with the Visionary Award through an organization called Theater Masters. As the recipient of this very lovely and intimidatingly-named award, I’ve also been granted a fellowship at the Aspen Ideas Festival, where I’ll be jetting off to in June to connect with thinkers and leaders in various fields — not just arts, but politics, science, technology, and so on. I’m excited to see what I’ll learn from the various discussions, panels, and presentations and how it will inform my writing going forward. Ultimately, they’ve commissioned me to write a play, and I think this is a really cool way of kicking off that generative process by exposing me to new ideas in fields I may have never thought to connect to my art before.

Any time a cool opportunity like this comes my way, I do a little mental exercise of thinking back through all the people in my life and projects I worked on that directly or indirectly led me to it. Every year, everything that happens to me, that list gets longer.

I’m super grateful to have talented, smart, dedicated people around me who push me to grow just as readily as they celebrate my success. I benefit from the support of fellow playwrights and theatermakers, academics, storytellers, film industry professionals, cancer survivors, nonprofits, musicians, circus performers, classmates, teachers and students – artists and audience members who show up and remind me why I do what I do. Is it easy? Absolutely not. But it’s gratifying to see all those small decisions I’ve made over the years — this party I went to one time, this festival I self-produced at even though it was exhausting, those hours I spent at that old job I didn’t love — all of it ends up weaving together into this cool tapestry of stuff that couldn’t have happened without the confluence of all of it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite place to take people is the Getty. It’s just so beautiful inside and out. I never get sick of it. I love that it’s FREE. What an incredible gift. My next favorite place is the Huntington, which I’ve admittedly never even made my way inside yet because I end up spending hours getting lost in the gardens and then I run out of time. I recently enjoyed their high tea, which was probably the best I’ve experienced so far. And I’ve made it a point to go to a lot of high teas… I’m a big tea drinker and scone eater.

I’m a theater nerd so most of my recommendations for visitors are theater-related. I love seeing shows at Rogue Machine, Echo and especially Circle X if you’re lucky enough to be in town when they have a show. I love site-specific stuff and have been impressed with Downtown Repertory Theater. One time I went to a high tea and theater event at Madeline Garden which as you can imagine was just about the coolest thing that I could imagine as someone with an intense affection for those two specific activities and I wish they would do it more often.

Beyond that, ya know, I like the beach. I like the Comedy Store. I like Magic Castle. My favorite restaurant is Tara’s Himalayan. I also appreciate Doomie’s because I don’t eat meat and sometimes I want that fried chicken life.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to some of the amazing local organizations that have really enriched my life here in LA — The Playwrights Union, Naked Angels LA, and Public Assembly. Strong recommend to all these badasses who are cultivating a beautiful, supportive, inclusive local theater community.

Website: https://www.briannabarrett.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianna_bear/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannabarrett/

Twitter: lol no thanks, Elon.

Image Credits
Yes And Laughter Lab Showcase at Dynasty Typewriter