October 31, 2022 • 34 mins
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok is my guest on the podcast this week to talk about her creative work, connection, disability, humor, and most importantly: cats. Her play Cost of Living is in its final weeks on Broadway at the Manhattan Theater Club and you need to see it, so get your tickets here! I’m thrilled to share some music from forthcoming MikeyPod guests Molly Joyce and Sophia Subbayya Vastek in this episode as well. Enjoy!
Martyna Majok was born in Bytom, Poland and raised in Jersey and Chicago. She was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, Cost of Living, which is currently on Broadway. Other plays include Sanctuary City, Queens, and Ironbound, which have been produced across American and international stages.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
03:34 Connection – Molly Joyce
07:18 Conversation with Martyna Majok
28:50 In Our Softening – Sophia Subbayya Vastek
33:36 Outro
Follow Martyna Majok on Instagram and Twitter.
Many thanks to Nolan Doran for his help in making this conversation possible.
Molly Joyce previously appeared on MikeyPod 294. Listen to it here.
This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Martyna Majok! Learn more right here!
I’d love to have you in the Discord server! Think of it as a big chatroom where we can talk about whatever without the typical social media negativity and randos harshing our vibe. There are a few of us active in there right now and we’ve been discussing gratitude, podcast guests, and a bunch of other stuff. If you want to join the community, you can join right here. I’m happy to help if you need it!
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to MikeyPodd podcast, episode 353 for
October 31st, 2022. Happy Halloween.
Today's guest is CatLover Martina Myo. I mean,
she's also a prolific PulitzerPrize winning playwright,
who that's a lot of Pease in a robe,
prolific Pulitzer Prize winningplaywright whose play another p Cost
(00:22):
of Living just happens to be on Broadway.But we're all here for the Cat chat,
right? I'm your host, MichaelHerron. I'm a composer, pianist,
electronic musician, storyteller,
and perhaps a bit dormant activistbased in New York City. On this podcast,
I have conversations with fellow creatorswho use their creativity to change the
world. I've been sending this podcastto your ears for well over 17 years.
(00:44):
If you like what you hear,
subscribe using the colorful buttons inthe sidebar and footer@mikeypodd.com.
Or just search Mikey Podd inyour favorite podcast directory.
If you'd like to know more about me,stop by my website at Michael Herron. Uh,
you can find me on Twitter, Twitter,
Michael Herron at Michael Herron andall my other social media's turned off
right now. We've, I've gone onand on about that enough. So yeah,
(01:04):
welcome to the show.
I really wanna get to the interview andsome music that I have to share with you
too. Really great musicfrom future guests. Um,
so I'm not doing my usual check in.
There's not really anythingto report anyway. Um,
so let's go right to the part whereI thank my subscribers on Patreon for
powering this podcast. I havea lot of plosives today. Uh,
(01:24):
these are people who subscribe for $5or more a month and get special perks,
like tons of free downloads of mymusic and zines and bonus podcasts.
There are over 70 of them that you'llhave immediate access to when you
subscribe, including thisweek's bonus episode,
which features an extended conversationwith today's guest, Martina Myo,
where we will be talking about cats. Wereally are gonna talk about cats in the,
(01:47):
uh, bonus podcast.
Did you figure out that we're notonly talking about cats in our
conversation on this podcast, Um,
and in the bonus we're gonna be alsotalking about her surprising distaste for
writing, which I wassurprised to find out about,
but also could really relate to. So, um,
that'll be up on Patreon in a coupleof days. patreon.com/michael Herron.
(02:07):
I'm very aware of my PS right now. Um,
can I give a shout out to the pop filterthat I'm, Why does pop filter have a p?
Anyway, I have some musicfor you today. Also,
you may remember fromback in July of 2020,
I talked to a brilliant composer bythe name, name of Molly Joyce. Um,
(02:27):
you can always go back andlisten to that episode. Uh,
her work focuses on disabilityas a creative source.
She has a new album that came outjust last week called Perspective,
and she's gonna be a guest on thepodcast in a couple of weeks, uh,
to talk about the album. Um, but I wannashare a track with you from it today.
Um, she, the premise of thisalbum is that she interviewed,
I believe it was 47 different people, um,
(02:51):
about these various words on, um,
that are track names of the trackson the album. And, um, you'll hear,
hear the responses, uh, to this track.It's called Connection. And, um,
she wove the responses togetherwith her, uh, original music.
She's a really intriguingcomposer of new music
(03:12):
and ah, I love it,.
So it felt like a great fitfor today's show. And, um,
I just really want youto listen to this album,
so hopefully you're in a place whereyou could really just sit and listen to,
uh, the words you're about here,the music you're about here. Um,
and get ready for our conversationtoday with playwright Martina My
Oak. This is Connection by Molly Joyce.
(03:34):
What is connection for you?
.
And the connections among people areimpossible for you to understand because
a shimmer distorts the interactions,
much like a shattered mirrorprovides no coherent image,
so you glean only piecesof scattered reflections.
(03:59):
Eye contact, and more thanjust looking at someone's iris,
but actually looking into theirpupils when you speak to them.
Connecting with friends and family
connection.
Like we all I knowtalking to face to face.
(04:23):
I live at this intersectionof autism or neuro
divergence and poetry.
I've been trying to think aboutwhy these things feel so wedded
to each other in particular ways.
And I think connectionis a big part of it.
And I think it's also whatscares people about both of them.
(04:47):
The neuro divergent people in my life,
they really cut through allthe bullshit right away,
and they want to talkabout the real stuff.
And it's so refreshing.
I think, honestly, comingout to the pandemic, I,
I feel so disconnected with so manythings. I think I'm struggling to,
(05:12):
to answer that question because I don'treally know if I feel connected to much
of anything right now.
Having inside connections aswell as like outside connections.
Really feeling like you're safe
and seen and heard, and thatyou can just be your, like,
(05:34):
complete full self.
I think this idea of like being seen and,
and like, understood.
How is the world created for you?
And if it's not created for you,
what are you going to do withthe support of family, friends,
(05:56):
community, resources?
What are you gonna doto make that a more of a
living reality for you?
There is a level of trust whencollaborating with another disabled person
because of that sort of, youknow, that experience of,
you know, enduring ableism.
(06:19):
If you struggling to live,
connection is the slightestthing in your mind,
you connected to try to have stability.
Connection is why I'm a storyteller.Uh, connection is the bridge.
(06:40):
Acting with my friends
to me includes both my literal
physical dimension,
but also the empty spacesthat exist within me.
And a component that includesboth the emptiness that I carry
(07:03):
and the, the more overt structure I carry.
Joining me now on thepodcast is Martina Myo,
who is a playwright, a Pulitzer Prizewinner, all kinds of great stuff.
(07:26):
And now the guest on WikiFad, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
I feel like I'm behind the times. Isaw cost of Living this past weekend,
kind of not knowing whatI was gonna see. Um,
and I didn't knowanything about your work.
And now that I'm investigating it andvery excited, I'm like, Oh, this, like,
I'm behind. Sothere's so much you've done,
(07:48):
but because Cost ofLiving is what I've seen,
I'd love to talk to youabout it a little bit,
and I read a little bitabout your history. Um, so there's so much to discuss.
Um.
Yeah, I thank you for seeingit. Also. Isn't that the best,
like when you just don't, don't knowanything about a show? Can you walk in?
Yeah, I love it. And my sister isseeing it, uh, next week. Oh, okay.
Maybe the week after. And she's doingthe same thing and she won't let mention,
(08:11):
she won't let me say anything aboutit or anything about you. She's like,
I don't know anything. Ijust wanna go in. Which.
Is great. It's, it's so raretoo. Like that's the best.
Yeah. So for people who may,
who are listening who may not get thechance to see the play anytime soon
because they're not in New York City,is there a, uh, what am I trying,
like an elevator pitch about whatthe show? That sounds terrible,
(08:32):
but you know what I.
Mean. Oh no. Gosh, Yeah. I've sent'em so bad at these. Uh, so, so like,
let's see, to play about loneliness,to play about caregiving,
it's a play about our interconnectedness.The plot of it, I guess,
is that there's, we're followingtwo sets of two sets of couples.
One of them is, um,Eddie and Annie. And, um,
Eddie is an unemployed, recentlyunemployed truck driver. Uh,
(08:55):
and Annie is his estranged wife.
And the two of them comeback together when Annie, uh,
is in a car accident, whichleaps her quadriplegic. And, um,
Eddie begins being her caregiver and it'sthe, we follow how they sort of come,
come back together in a way.
And the other couple is John and Jess.
(09:16):
And John is a PhD graduatestudent in political science
at Princeton, um, who hascerebral palsy. And he hires Jess,
who is a first generation immigrantwho just graduated undergrad at
Princeton and is dealing with, um,a lot of financial instability, uh,
to be, she hires her to behis caregiver. And it's also,
(09:39):
we follow how they'rechallenged by and also brought,
brought together by their differences.Um, and, uh, it's a little,
it's a little sexy. It's alittle, it's a little funny.
It's a little ghosty.Uh, yeah, that was a really long,
So we basically got to the 96floor with that elevator pitch.
That was a little too long..
No,
but it was great because I feel like oneof the things about talking to you on
(10:01):
the podcast I was thinking aboutwas like a lot of people won't,
won't get to see theplay. Like they, you know,
people who listen all over theplace. Um, so I'm glad that you,
that we got to the 96 floor forthat. I really love working,
this is kind of what I do on the podcast,
is talk to people who use their work toas activism or as like raising social
(10:21):
awareness and that type of thing. Andthe thing that can be really challenging,
this, this type of thing,as I'm sure you know,
is trying to be inclusiveor address some of the,
it even feels corny to say addressthe issues that you do with this play.
It can come off as very likecorny and forced and, um,
(10:42):
you know, all of those things that,that sort of undermine your message. Um,
and you've done it so not that you've so.
Like, Oh my God.
And this is a fine example ofdoing exactly that. No,
but I mean, like what you've done it,
you're telling a story and all of thesethings happen to be a part of the story.
(11:04):
Um, well,
is it a challenge or was it a challengefor you to sort of get to a place and
like some of those topicsyou wanted to cover,
keep them from being cliched or.
I mean, that's exactly whatwhat you're saying is like,
they happen to be like the,
there are two disabled charactersplay by two disabled actors in
(11:24):
the cast. There also happen to betwo first gen, um, performers that,
that are also first gen.One is an immigrant,
one is a one is a first gen characterin the, the play. And I, um,
I tend to, I I'm an immigrant.I was born in Poland, um,
and, um, uh, grew up also whenI, when I came to America,
I grew up in a largely multiculturalimmigrant neighborhood in,
(11:47):
in working class neighborhoodin North Jersey. And, um, I,
when I first began writing plays,
I was writing plays about my friendsand family, um, who, you know,
happened to not have much money and maybewas English was their second language
and all these things thatwhen I started writing, uh,
and sharing it with people fromthe outside, they were saying, Oh,
(12:09):
you are you writing about immigrants?Why are you writing about low income, um,
people, uh, um, you're,
you're writing about economic instabilityand how it relates to, to women,
et cetera. And I was like,I guess that is true, Yes.
But I was writing my friends andmyself and my family once I was aware
that this is how it's gonna be seen asthese are stories of people from the
outside because they're, they'rethe inside for me,,
(12:32):
this is my experience, butfor the American theater,
they are stories of people from theoutside or marginalized communities.
And so I, um,
always wanna make sure I'mbeing as authentic as possible
to that experience whilealso inviting people in for
whom that isn't their experience.Um, uh, so that somebody,
(12:56):
somebody who's who I grew up with whowould see my play wouldn't think I was
pandering, like, Ohyeah, yeah. It's like how we,
it's like that's our life. Yeah.
But also somebody who's not from thatwill feel invited into a different,
maybe a different experience that maybethey'll find is actually not that far
off from their experience. It's just sortof a different, different form. So I,
I never consider my playsissue plays, though. They're,
(13:19):
a lot of the charactersare dealing with, um,
obstacles that have been created bypolicy that is just inherent in their
lives. I mean, the last play I wrote was,uh, called Sanctuary City, and it's a,
it was about, um,
a friendship between two undocumentedteenagers. And so it's not a,
it's not a play quote about immigration.
(13:39):
Cause I don't know how to dothat more than, I dunno,
like how do you write a play aboutwomen? You know, it's such a,
there's so many this many variousversions of those experiences. Um, um,
so it was never like, um, I must writeabout this identity or this experience,
it just as, or this, um, uh, Id, Yeah,
identity really is, is is more,cause the experience is part of it,
(14:00):
but like the,
the political is inherent in thepersonal for these characters,
um, and these, and these worlds.So, so hopefully, I mean, I,
my my politics might be prettyapparent , which are like,
don't be dix to people andand will survive equally as best,
equally as possible. Uh, but it's never,
(14:22):
I'm never trying to make a polemic.
I'm not trying to make something thatfeels like it's eating your vegetables.
I'm just, I'm telling people, I'm tellingstories of the humans that I know and,
and am, uh, and trying to bringus kind of, kind of connect us,
connect the people in the audienceto the people on stage and, um,
make it in an inviting experience,Not a, not a vegetable,
(14:43):
not an eat your vegetablesexperience..
That's a great way to put it. But,you know, I think that like, it's,
it's the, um,
when we include stories or tell storiesabout more different types of people,
that's just what happens, Right. Itit, in a way, it sounds like, I mean,
you're writing from your experience,
but also make an effort to includepeople who don't always, uh,
(15:07):
very rarely show up on mm-hmm.
on a stage just by tellingthe stories. It seems like you're,
you're hitting it, right? Like.
Well, in this particular instance, Ithink especially with, um, I, you know,
I'm not disabled. I was a caregiverfor, I worked as a caregiver for what,
two years. Um,
so I pulled from that experiencewhen I was writing the play, um,
(15:30):
as well as just, um,you know, people that I,
a lot of the characters are compositesof people that I know. Um, but there,
I had written in the play the,the notes of the play, Please,
Please Cast Disabled Actors. And, um,
I didn't realize what a big dealthat actually would be because there,
I didn't experience with the productionsin New York and the productions that I
(15:52):
was involved with. But therehad been theaters that, um,
reached out after the play waspublished. And it goes around for, um,
regionally with, you know, sort ofwith without me at that point, um,
theaters would reach out and askme, do I really mean it? Wow. Uh,
and I was like, Yes, I do.Um, do you need help finding, finding,
um, actors? Here's a list. Um,
(16:13):
here's a list of other theater com theatercommunities and companies that, um,
are devoted to, to, um,
telling disabled stories likeFamily and Deaf West and tbt. Um,
and some of those theaters did reach outand some just kind of, it was crickets.
Like they had no intention actuallyof changing the way that they,
(16:34):
a lot, a lot of people have typicallycast disabled roles, which is, um,
not with non-disabledactors. Uh, so it's like, uh,
I guess that itself is apolitical act. Um, it's,
it shouldn't be, It seems itdoesn't, it seems like so obvious,
why would you not wanna cast disabledactors to portray disabled characters?
(16:56):
But it, um, it's been sort ofsurprising to me how, how, um,
the response sometimes it's, I, I, it's,it's like, there shouldn't be response,
I guess in my, in my, in my thinkinglike, Oh, sure, just cast disabled actors.
Um, but there, that ist alwaysthe, the way that it's gone.
I, I can't remember whereI read this. It was,
(17:16):
it was an interview with awoman who plays, uh, Ani.
Oh, Katie Sullivan. Yeah.
Yeah. And she, she was observing,
I can't remember shesaid she heard it or the,
the people surprised that shewas disabled that they Yeah.
That she wasn't an actor who wasYeah, yeah. Like, they were like, Oh,
someone said something like, Oh,
it must have been really hard for her tosit in that chair with her legs tucked
(17:37):
underneath. Yes. Like,
it was just outside of the realm ofpossibility that that could possibly be a
disabled actor. Yeah. Really interesting.
Yeah. And there's also,this is, um, the other,
the other disabled actorin the cast, spr Mosca, um,
has cerebral palsies play and characterizemore who has more intense cerebral
palsy than he has. Um,so he doesn't require,
the actor doesn't require a wheelchair,then they come out on stage.
(17:58):
People don't think that he's disabled.He's, he's heard some really interesting,
interesting and horrible things. Somebody,somebody came up to him after the,
after a show when we did the show OffBroadway. And because he doesn't use a, a,
a wheelchair, um, people mightnot like you, can he, you know,
he says this, he says this openly, soI, I I will share it, but he's like,
(18:22):
You can, you can, you can tell whenhe walks like that he is disabled.
Um, but because there's never awheelchair, and it's like not, his,
his disability is not as pronouncedas, um, as the characters.
People. Somebody at one point came tohim and after the show and was like,
Oh my God, thank God you're notactually disabled. And like,
how horrible is that to hear? Like,Oh, thank God, thank God. He's like,
(18:46):
Actually, actually am.But, um, but the judgment of like,
Oh God, thank God, thank God, um,when that's his lived experience.
So it's been, it's been interest.It's, yeah. And then people who are,
who I've heard say like, Oh,they're not, oh, but they,
they're not actually disabled or what,uh, or have been, or quote unquote,
are playing, playing. Um, yeah,
(19:07):
there's such a rarity of seeing thoseactors on stage, I guess that, that,
that is, uh, it's been the response.
,
hopefully some of those people that askthese questions or make these incorrect
observations, we're able to,
to take something away from havingsaid something like that. Uh,
we can only hope, I guess. We're.
All learning. We're all learning, I guess.
(19:29):
Yeah. And that's totally true,like, about a lot of things. Um,
it, it makes me think of timesin the past that I look back now,
I've learned just aboutvarious, you know, things, um,
the moments that I justlook back like, Oh,
I wish I could likefind that person again.
That I said that microaggression tolike five years ago. Like, I didn't,
(19:51):
you know, when you learn like, Oh myGod, I said that to someone. Yeah.
And I guess it's, a lotof times it's actually,
it's an act of trying to connect. Like,
that person was probably trying toconnect with the, with Greg, the actor,
um, and didn't realize that,that that's maybe, maybe a hurt,
hurtful thing to hear. Um, and, uh,
Greg and other actors I've talkedto mentioned that there's, um,
(20:14):
you gotta, there's this relianceof humor to, to, um, there's,
there's a, there's a need to use humorto kind of make other people comfortable.
Um, I do the same thing in theplay. Like there's, I, I've,
I've learned with my plays, I need tomake the audience laugh within the,
I used to say within the first minute,
and now I think it's like the first30 seconds, maybe 15 seconds mm-hmm.
(20:36):
so that they knowit's so, I want them to laugh.
It's okay to laugh. I wannainvite them into this, this,
the experience and thestory. And, um, they might,
they might be tense because of the subjectmatter, um, not just for this play,
but my other, my otherplays as well. Yeah.
I was, that was one of thethings that I really appreciated.
And there's some likedark like, uh,
(20:58):
humor in the play, which I alwaysappreciate. But, um, I can feel that too,
as a, as a point, especiallywhen they're disabled characters.
I'm sure that if you don't really set itup in the beginning of the play, like,
this is a thing, we're gonnalaugh today too,, you.
Know? Yeah. It's every, I mean, the other,
like Iron Bound is about awoman in like, incredible,
(21:18):
like financial instability, and there'sof domestic violence in the, like,
talks of domestic violenceand there's, there's like,
there's heavy things inthe play. And I think, um,
if you don't let them, let theaudience know early that like, it's,
it's okay then, then there feels likethere's a, there's a feeling of like, Oh,
we're not allowed to, we're notallowed to laugh at this. And it's not,
(21:39):
you never,
the audience should never feel likethey're laughing at a character usually.
I have noticed that, uh,
that like the more marginalized characterand whatever scene will tend to tend
to lead the humor. Like they'll be theones that are in charge of the jokes,
and so you're laughing withthem. They're the ones,
they have the agency over the humor,
and so you're neverlaughing at that character.
(22:00):
And hopefully that lets everybody, youknow, feel more, feel more comfortable.
And like, we're all here togetherin our, in our awkwardness,
in our shared tension and with respect.
Uh, I hadn't noticed that, but now thatI'm thinking back to the play, I'm like,
Oh, yeah, that is, thatis how that was handled.
There was a scene thatI especially loved, um,
Jess's helping John take ashower. Mm-hmm.,
(22:23):
it connected a lovely memorywith my mom when she was sick and
passed away, um, that I was helpingtake care of her. And it was,
that scene was so beautiful,
and it really captures that like,
sort of intimate exchange of care, like,
(22:44):
of caring for, for someoneelse. Um, was that,
I'm silly question. I think,
how much did you draw on your experienceas a caregiver, uh, for that scene?
And was it important to youto sort of portray that?
Yeah. And thank you for the kind, thekind of words. Yeah. Thank you. I, I,
so the, the job that I, one of the jobs I,
(23:05):
I had was working for a manwas cerebral palsy. Um, I was,
I worked with two men and, um, that was,
that was how I showered him. That waslike how I prepared him for the day.
And so I, I wrote it into thescript really specifically. Um,
and then when we, when wedid the first production,
(23:26):
I just showed them what I did. I, Iworked with, it was always Greg was,
was always in that role from the,
from the moment we had a firstproduction till, till now on Broadway.
And I just showed them likehow I, how I maneuvered.
I wanted to show how natural it is,
like how connected those two bodies are.Like it's almost a dance that they're,
(23:46):
that they're doing of, um,they've, at that point in the play,
they've been working together forI think three or a few months,
but at that point, so they've establisheda kind of rhythm with each other,
with their bodies, um, such that theycan have conversations, you know, flu,
pretty fluidly. Um, and,um, and I wanted to,
I think it's just beautiful. I watchedthat scene and I'm like, it's a scene of,
(24:06):
of somebody caring for anotherperson's, another for another person.
And it's also just soroutine, um, and, um,
such a, so natural. So I wanted to,
and I also wanted to show how muchwork it is. Mm-hmm., um,
like this, it's such a physical,
it's just such a physical job that thisother person is doing. But that, and,
(24:28):
and that like, um, that, that reallyboth of them are doing because they're,
they're kind of working in tandem asmuch as they, as they as they can. Um,
so I wanted to invite anaudience into what that is.
I wanted them to see it all. Ididn't wanna just open, you know,
lights up and you see, um, um, uh,
he's already in the shower chair,whatever. But like, I wanted them,
(24:48):
I wanted everyone to see that fullact. And so throughout the whole scene,
he's showered, Um, he's broughtinto the shower, he showered,
he's brought back into thiswheelchair. He's, he's, um, dressed.
His hair is done, and he is likeready for the day and the whole scene.
So I was like, yeah, I wanted to show,show people that's what the work is.
I didn't realize that that was part ofwhat I love so much about that scene,
(25:09):
but the, the feeling that they hadbeen doing this and they just had this,
this dance, Um, thatwas a great scene. Yeah.
There was a clip that I saw todaythat talks where you're talking about,
and it's very short. Like itdoesn't tell the whole story.
I'm so curious about moreof this, um, where you,
your agent was telling youthat you won the Puli tour.
(25:32):
.
Like, I, I mean, I partly lovethis type of story because it,
it wasn't something untilI moved to New York and,
and I met people who had been onBroadway or who had like, success, um,
in the theater. And then next, amonth later they're like, Okay,
I'm back on unemployment nowbecause I don't have a job.
I didn't really realize that.So it's really this story,
(25:55):
um, it's important tome for that kind of way.
So whatever partof that you feel like.
Oh, yeah, yeah. I, I actually love thisstory too. Cause I'm like, this is,
it's just so exactly whatyou're saying. You're like, Yep.
And one day on Broadway, andthe next, like, like, we,
you open the show andthe next day I'm like,
gotta do my laundry and my Ikea bags,take it downstairs. Like, it was like,
(26:16):
these like sharp contrasts of, ofwhat your life is like. You know,
one day you're at this, at thisgo opening, and then you're like,
gotta do my laundry in the basement.Um,. But, uh, yeah,
for the day of the, I was, um,
I was supposed to be at jury duty thatday. Um, I, it was like flash floods.
I went down downtown. I, I wasall the way, all the way uptown.
(26:38):
So I went downtown. I wasn'tchosen, like, thank God,
I came back to my apartment and I wasabout to start doing my taxes because they
would do the next day. So like, great.Like, it's very, very late. Like, so I,
so I was opening upTurboTax, like ready to go,
and I get a call around threeo'clock from my agent, um,
who's screaming at methat I won the Pulitzer.
And I was so mad at him becauseI thought he was fucking with
(27:03):
me. Arthurs lying to meUhhuh. Um, and uh, uh,
it was nine minutes and 48seconds of me being like,
How dare you? Um, it was alsoApril. So I was like, Oh,
this is like a delayed April Foolsjoke. Like, how cool. Yeah. And, um,
he's just laughing at me for almost10 minutes and was like, Well,
why don't you, why don't you hang up?
(27:23):
And I think you will find that youactually indeed have won the poll for
. The thing is like, why the phone,
why was 10 minutes was Iwas trying to Google it,
but apparently I didn't know this. Like,
apparently it's a live streamannouncement that that goes out.
So it was recorded, so there was no, like,
there was no language on the internet,which means it's not real that like that.
I had one that pulled Sarah, so I waslike, Was gonna watch this video. Um,
(27:45):
so I hung up and I saw that,um, I had 20, 20 texts,
like 12 or 20 texts, and the first onewas from Steven Allen GIAs being saying,
Congratulations. I was like, Oh,well, I guess it's true.
And I called my agentback to apologize. Uh.
Uh, I'm sure he appreciatedthat the whole thing out.
(28:06):
Laugh at me the whole.
Time. Yeah. Well, you know, we shouldwrap up this part of our conversation.
Okay. Um, sad to say, um,
for those of you who are listeningand would like to hear more,
there'll be a little bonuspodcast conversation where we might be talking about
cats. Cats, I don't.
Know. Best content. Yeah.
All cats all the.
Time. All cats All the time.
(28:26):
Yeah. Um, so thanks forjoining me on this podcast.
Thank you for having.
Me. And, um, your, your website ismartina myo.com. Mm-hmm..
Um, anywhere else I should tell peopleto go to learn more about your work or?
I'm on, I'm on all the socials. Idon't really use Twitter that much,
but I'm on, I'm on, uh, it's all my,all my name. M A r t y N A m h A O K,
(28:47):
Um, Instagram I've been usingmore most lately, but yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Cool. All right. Thanksfor talking to me today.
Thank you.
(33:36):
That was the title track fromSophia Saba Vatex in our softening.
Uh, Sophia is going tobe on the podcast soon.
I'm very excited for thisconversation as well. Uh,
that piano has a history andit inspired the album, the,
the piano that that wasrecorded, that piece come on.
So I'm excited about so manythings that are coming up.
(33:56):
I'm excited about this thing that justhappened, this interview with, uh,
Martina Myo. A lot of things. A lot ofthings. Thanks so much for listening.
If you're a patron, uh,stop by patreon.com/michael Herron in a couple of days,
and there will be an extended catconversation with Martina.
And if you're not yet a patron,
feel free to go on over thereand sign up for five bucks.
(34:17):
You get access to all that cool stuffI talked about in the beginning of the
show. Um, I'm really grateful toyou for listening. Tell a friend,
I've taken quite a pause from socialmedia right now and whatever with
the new owner of Twitter. Maybe I'llbe leaving there too. I don't know.
I'm just on a personal level,
I'm much happier not being as engagedon social media as I used to be.
(34:40):
And that is the end of this podcast.Thanks so much for listening, and, uh,
let me hear from you. Please,I'd love to hear from you.
I hope you enjoyed theinterview. See you next time.
Hello, and welcome to MikeyPodd podcast, episode 353 for
October 31st, 2022. Happy Halloween.
Today's guest is CatLover Martina Myo. I mean,
she's also a prolific PulitzerPrize winning playwright,
who that's a lot of Pease in a robe,
prolific Pulitzer Prize winningplaywright whose play another p Cost
(00:22):
of Living just happens to be on Broadway.But we're all here for the Cat chat,
right? I'm your host, MichaelHerron. I'm a composer, pianist,
electronic musician, storyteller,
and perhaps a bit dormant activistbased in New York City. On this podcast,
I have conversations with fellow creatorswho use their creativity to change the
world. I've been sending this podcastto your ears for well over 17 years.
(00:44):
If you like what you hear,
subscribe using the colorful buttons inthe sidebar and footer@mikeypodd.com.
Or just search Mikey Podd inyour favorite podcast directory.
If you'd like to know more about me,stop by my website at Michael Herron. Uh,
you can find me on Twitter, Twitter,
Michael Herron at Michael Herron andall my other social media's turned off
right now. We've, I've gone onand on about that enough. So yeah,
(01:04):
welcome to the show.
I really wanna get to the interview andsome music that I have to share with you
too. Really great musicfrom future guests. Um,
so I'm not doing my usual check in.
There's not really anythingto report anyway. Um,
so let's go right to the part whereI thank my subscribers on Patreon for
powering this podcast. I havea lot of plosives today. Uh,
(01:24):
these are people who subscribe for $5or more a month and get special perks,
like tons of free downloads of mymusic and zines and bonus podcasts.
There are over 70 of them that you'llhave immediate access to when you
subscribe, including thisweek's bonus episode,
which features an extended conversationwith today's guest, Martina Myo,
where we will be talking about cats. Wereally are gonna talk about cats in the,
(01:47):
uh, bonus podcast.
Did you figure out that we're notonly talking about cats
conversation on this podcast, Um,
and in the bonus we're gonna be alsotalking about her surprising distaste for
writing, which I wassurprised to find out about,
but also could really relate to. So, um,
that'll be up on Patreon in a coupleof days. patreon.com/michael Herron.
(02:07):
I'm very aware of my PS right now. Um,
can I give a shout out to the pop filterthat I'm, Why does pop filter have a p?
Anyway, I have some musicfor you today. Also,
you may remember fromback in July of 2020,
I talked to a brilliant composer bythe name, name of Molly Joyce. Um,
(02:27):
you can always go back andlisten to that episode. Uh,
her work focuses on disabilityas a creative source.
She has a new album that came outjust last week called Perspective,
and she's gonna be a guest on thepodcast in a couple of weeks, uh,
to talk about the album. Um, but I wannashare a track with you from it today.
Um, she, the premise of thisalbum is that she interviewed,
I believe it was 47 different people, um,
(02:51):
about these various words on, um,
that are track names of the trackson the album. And, um, you'll hear,
hear the responses, uh, to this track.It's called Connection. And, um,
she wove the responses togetherwith her, uh, original music.
She's a really intriguingcomposer of new music
(03:12):
and ah, I love it,
So it felt like a great fitfor today's show. And, um,
I just really want youto listen to this album,
so hopefully you're in a place whereyou could really just sit and listen to,
uh, the words you're about here,the music you're about here. Um,
and get ready for our conversationtoday with playwright Martina My
Oak. This is Connection by Molly Joyce.
(03:34):
What is connection for you?
And the connections among people areimpossible for you to understand because
a shimmer distorts the interactions,
much like a shattered mirrorprovides no coherent image,
so you glean only piecesof scattered reflections.
(03:59):
Eye contact, and more thanjust looking at someone's iris,
but actually looking into theirpupils when you speak to them.
Connecting with friends and family
connection.
Like we all I knowtalking to face to face.
(04:23):
I live at this intersectionof autism or neuro
divergence and poetry.
I've been trying to think aboutwhy these things feel so wedded
to each other in particular ways.
And I think connectionis a big part of it.
And I think it's also whatscares people about both of them.
(04:47):
The neuro divergent people in my life,
they really cut through allthe bullshit right away,
and they want to talkabout the real stuff.
And it's so refreshing.
I think, honestly, comingout to the pandemic, I,
I feel so disconnected with so manythings. I think I'm struggling to,
(05:12):
to answer that question because I don'treally know if I feel connected to much
of anything right now.
Having inside connections aswell as like outside connections.
Really feeling like you're safe
and seen and heard, and thatyou can just be your, like,
(05:34):
complete full self.
I think this idea of like being seen and,
and like, understood.
How is the world created for you?
And if it's not created for you,
what are you going to do withthe support of family, friends,
(05:56):
community, resources?
What are you gonna doto make that a more of a
living reality for you?
There is a level of trust whencollaborating with another disabled person
because of that sort of, youknow, that experience of,
you know, enduring ableism.
(06:19):
If you struggling to live,
connection is the slightestthing in your mind,
you connected to try to have stability.
Connection is why I'm a storyteller.Uh, connection is the bridge.
(06:40):
Acting with my friends
to me includes both my literal
physical dimension,
but also the empty spacesthat exist within me.
And a component that includesboth the emptiness that I carry
(07:03):
and the, the more overt structure I carry.
Joining me now on thepodcast is Martina Myo,
who is a playwright, a Pulitzer Prizewinner, all kinds of great stuff.
(07:26):
And now the guest on WikiFad, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
I feel like I'm behind the times. Isaw cost of Living this past weekend,
kind of not knowing whatI was gonna see. Um,
and I didn't knowanything about your work.
And now that I'm investigating it andvery excited, I'm like, Oh, this, like,
I'm behind
(07:48):
but because Cost ofLiving is what I've seen,
I'd love to talk to youabout it a little bit,
and I read a little bitabout your history. Um, so there's so much to discuss.
Um.
Yeah, I thank you for seeingit. Also. Isn't that the best,
like when you just don't, don't knowanything about a show? Can you walk in?
Yeah, I love it. And my sister isseeing it, uh, next week. Oh, okay.
Maybe the week after. And she's doingthe same thing and she won't let mention,
(08:11):
she won't let me say anything aboutit or anything about you. She's like,
I don't know anything. Ijust wanna go in. Which.
Is great. It's, it's so raretoo. Like that's the best.
Yeah. So for people who may,
who are listening who may not get thechance to see the play anytime soon
because they're not in New York City,is there a, uh, what am I trying,
like an elevator pitch about whatthe show? That sounds terrible,
(08:32):
but you know what I.
Mean. Oh no. Gosh, Yeah. I've sent'em so bad at these. Uh, so, so like,
let's see, to play about loneliness,to play about caregiving,
it's a play about our interconnectedness.The plot of it, I guess,
is that there's, we're followingtwo sets of two sets of couples.
One of them is, um,Eddie and Annie. And, um,
Eddie is an unemployed, recentlyunemployed truck driver. Uh,
(08:55):
and Annie is his estranged wife.
And the two of them comeback together when Annie, uh,
is in a car accident, whichleaps her quadriplegic. And, um,
Eddie begins being her caregiver and it'sthe, we follow how they sort of come,
come back together in a way.
And the other couple is John and Jess.
(09:16):
And John is a PhD graduatestudent in political science
at Princeton, um, who hascerebral palsy. And he hires Jess,
who is a first generation immigrantwho just graduated undergrad at
Princeton and is dealing with, um,a lot of financial instability, uh,
to be, she hires her to behis caregiver. And it's also,
(09:39):
we follow how they'rechallenged by and also brought,
brought together by their differences.Um, and, uh, it's a little,
it's a little sexy. It's alittle, it's a little funny.
It's a little ghosty
So we basically got to the 96floor with that elevator pitch.
That was a little too long.
No,
but it was great because I feel like oneof the things about talking to you on
(10:01):
the podcast I was thinking aboutwas like a lot of people won't,
won't get to see theplay. Like they, you know,
people who listen all over theplace. Um, so I'm glad that you,
that we got to the 96 floor forthat
this is kind of what I do on the podcast,
is talk to people who use their work toas activism or as like raising social
(10:21):
awareness and that type of thing. Andthe thing that can be really challenging,
this, this type of thing,as I'm sure you know,
is trying to be inclusiveor address some of the,
it even feels corny to say addressthe issues that you do with this play.
It can come off as very likecorny and forced and, um,
(10:42):
you know, all of those things that,that sort of undermine your message. Um,
and you've done it so not that you've so.
Like, Oh my God.
And this is a fine example ofdoing exactly that
but I mean, like what you've done it,
you're telling a story and all of thesethings happen to be a part of the story.
(11:04):
Um, well,
is it a challenge or was it a challengefor you to sort of get to a place and
like some of those topicsyou wanted to cover,
keep them from being cliched or.
I mean, that's exactly whatwhat you're saying is like,
they happen to be like the,
there are two disabled charactersplay by two disabled actors in
(11:24):
the cast. There also happen to betwo first gen, um, performers that,
that are also first gen.One is an immigrant,
one is a one is a first gen characterin the, the play. And I, um,
I tend to, I I'm an immigrant.I was born in Poland, um,
and, um, uh, grew up also whenI, when I came to America,
I grew up in a largely multiculturalimmigrant neighborhood in,
(11:47):
in working class neighborhoodin North Jersey. And, um, I,
when I first began writing plays,
I was writing plays about my friendsand family, um, who, you know,
happened to not have much money and maybewas English was their second language
and all these things thatwhen I started writing, uh,
and sharing it with people fromthe outside, they were saying, Oh,
(12:09):
you are you writing about immigrants?Why are you writing about low income, um,
people, uh, um, you're,
you're writing about economic instabilityand how it relates to, to women,
et cetera. And I was like,I guess that is true, Yes.
But I was writing my friends andmyself and my family once I was aware
that this is how it's gonna be seen asthese are stories of people from the
outside because they're, they'rethe inside for me,
(12:32):
this is my experience, butfor the American theater,
they are stories of people from theoutside or marginalized communities.
And so I, um,
always wanna make sure I'mbeing as authentic as possible
to that experience whilealso inviting people in for
whom that isn't their experience.Um, uh, so that somebody,
(12:56):
somebody who's who I grew up with whowould see my play wouldn't think I was
pandering
it's like that's our life. Yeah.
But also somebody who's not from thatwill feel invited into a different,
maybe a different experience that maybethey'll find is actually not that far
off from their experience. It's just sortof a different, different form. So I,
I never consider my playsissue plays, though. They're,
(13:19):
a lot of the charactersare dealing with, um,
obstacles that have been created bypolicy that is just inherent in their
lives. I mean, the last play I wrote was,uh, called Sanctuary City, and it's a,
it was about, um,
a friendship between two undocumentedteenagers. And so it's not a,
it's not a play quote about immigration.
(13:39):
Cause I don't know how to dothat
like how do you write a play aboutwomen? You know, it's such a,
there's so many this many variousversions of those experiences. Um, um,
so it was never like, um, I must writeabout this identity or this experience,
it just as, or this, um, uh, Id, Yeah,
identity really is, is is more,cause the experience is part of it,
(14:00):
but like the,
the political is inherent in thepersonal for these characters,
um, and these, and these worlds.So, so hopefully, I mean, I,
my my politics might be
don't be dix to people and
equally as possible. Uh, but it's never,
(14:22):
I'm never trying to make a polemic.
I'm not trying to make something thatfeels like it's eating your vegetables.
I'm just, I'm telling people, I'm tellingstories of the humans that I know and,
and am, uh, and trying to bringus kind of, kind of connect us,
connect the people in the audienceto the people on stage and, um,
make it in an inviting experience,Not a, not a vegetable,
(14:43):
not an eat your vegetablesexperience.
That's a great way to put it. But,you know, I think that like, it's,
it's the, um,
when we include stories or tell storiesabout more different types of people,
that's just what happens, Right. Itit, in a way, it sounds like, I mean,
you're writing from your experience,
but also make an effort to includepeople who don't always, uh,
(15:07):
very rarely show up on mm-hmm.
you're hitting it, right? Like.
Well, in this particular instance, Ithink especially with, um, I, you know,
I'm not disabled. I was a caregiverfor, I worked as a caregiver for what,
two years. Um,
so I pulled from that experiencewhen I was writing the play, um,
(15:30):
as well as just, um,you know, people that I,
a lot of the characters are compositesof people that I know. Um, but there,
I had written in the play the,the notes of the play, Please,
Please Cast Disabled Actors. And, um,
I didn't realize what a big dealthat actually would be because there,
I didn't experience with the productionsin New York and the productions that I
(15:52):
was involved with. But therehad been theaters that, um,
reached out after the play waspublished. And it goes around for, um,
regionally with, you know, sort ofwith without me at that point, um,
theaters would reach out and askme, do I really mean it? Wow. Uh,
and I was like, Yes, I do
um, actors? Here's a list. Um,
(16:13):
here's a list of other theater com theatercommunities and companies that, um,
are devoted to, to, um,
telling disabled stories likeFamily and Deaf West and tbt. Um,
and some of those theaters did reach outand some just kind of, it was crickets.
Like they had no intention actuallyof changing the way that they,
(16:34):
a lot, a lot of people have typicallycast disabled roles, which is, um,
not with non-disabledactors. Uh, so it's like, uh,
I guess that itself is apolitical act. Um, it's,
it shouldn't be, It seems itdoesn't, it seems like so obvious,
why would you not wanna cast disabledactors to portray disabled characters?
(16:56):
But it, um, it's been sort ofsurprising to me how, how, um,
the response sometimes it's, I, I, it's,it's like, there shouldn't be response,
I guess in my, in my, in my thinkinglike, Oh, sure, just cast disabled actors.
Um, but there, that ist alwaysthe, the way that it's gone.
I, I can't remember whereI read this. It was,
(17:16):
it was an interview with awoman who plays, uh, Ani.
Oh, Katie Sullivan. Yeah.
Yeah. And she, she was observing,
I can't remember shesaid she heard it or the,
the people surprised that shewas disabled that they Yeah.
That she wasn't an actor who wasYeah, yeah. Like, they were like, Oh,
someone said something like, Oh,
it must have been really hard for her tosit in that chair with her legs tucked
(17:37):
underneath. Yes. Like,
it was just outside of the realm ofpossibility that that could possibly be a
disabled actor. Yeah. Really interesting.
Yeah. And there's also,this is, um, the other,
the other disabled actorin the cast, spr Mosca, um,
has cerebral palsies play and characterizemore who has more intense cerebral
palsy than he has. Um,so he doesn't require,
the actor doesn't require a wheelchair,then they come out on stage.
(17:58):
People don't think that he's disabled.He's, he's heard some really interesting,
interesting and horrible things. Somebody,somebody came up to him after the,
after a show when we did the show OffBroadway. And because he doesn't use a, a,
a wheelchair, um, people mightnot like you, can he, you know,
he says this, he says this openly, soI, I I will share it, but he's like,
(18:22):
You can, you can, you can tell whenhe walks like that he is disabled.
Um, but because there's never awheelchair, and it's like not, his,
his disability is not as pronouncedas, um, as the characters.
People. Somebody at one point came tohim and after the show and was like,
Oh my God, thank God you're notactually disabled. And like,
how horrible is that to hear? Like,Oh, thank God, thank God. He's like,
(18:46):
Actually, actually am
Oh God, thank God, thank God, um,when that's his lived experience.
So it's been, it's been interest.It's, yeah. And then people who are,
who I've heard say like, Oh,they're not, oh, but they,
they're not actually disabled or what,uh, or have been, or quote unquote,
are playing, playing. Um, yeah,
(19:07):
there's such a rarity of seeing thoseactors on stage, I guess that, that,
that is, uh, it's been the response.
hopefully some of those people that askthese questions or make these incorrect
observations, we're able to,
to take something away from havingsaid something like that. Uh,
we can only hope, I guess. We're.
All learning. We're all learning, I guess.
(19:29):
Yeah. And that's totally true,like, about a lot of things. Um,
it, it makes me think of timesin the past that I look back now,
I've learned just aboutvarious, you know, things, um,
the moments that I justlook back like, Oh,
I wish I could likefind that person again.
That I said that microaggression tolike five years ago. Like, I didn't,
(19:51):
you know, when you learn like, Oh myGod, I said that to someone. Yeah.
And I guess it's, a lotof times it's actually,
it's an act of trying to connect. Like,
that person was probably trying toconnect with the, with Greg, the actor,
um, and didn't realize that,that that's maybe, maybe a hurt,
hurtful thing to hear. Um, and, uh,
Greg and other actors I've talkedto mentioned that there's, um,
(20:14):
you gotta, there's this relianceof humor to, to, um, there's,
there's a, there's a need to use humorto kind of make other people comfortable.
Um, I do the same thing in theplay. Like there's, I, I've,
I've learned with my plays, I need tomake the audience laugh within the,
I used to say within the first minute,
and now I think it's like the first30 seconds, maybe 15 seconds mm-hmm.
(20:36):
It's okay to laugh. I wannainvite them into this, this,
the experience and thestory. And, um, they might,
they might be tense because of the subjectmatter, um, not just for this play,
but my other, my otherplays as well. Yeah.
I was, that was one of thethings that I really appreciated.
And there's some likedark
(20:58):
humor in the play, which I alwaysappreciate. But, um, I can feel that too,
as a, as a point, especiallywhen they're disabled characters.
I'm sure that if you don't really set itup in the beginning of the play, like,
this is a thing, we're gonnalaugh today too,
Know? Yeah. It's every, I mean, the other,
like Iron Bound is about awoman in like, incredible,
(21:18):
like financial instability, and there'sof domestic violence in the, like,
talks of domestic violenceand there's, there's like,
there's heavy things inthe play. And I think, um,
if you don't let them, let theaudience know early that like, it's,
it's okay then, then there feels likethere's a, there's a feeling of like, Oh,
we're not allowed to, we're notallowed to laugh at this. And it's not,
(21:39):
you never,
the audience should never feel likethey're laughing at a character usually.
I have noticed that, uh,
that like the more marginalized characterand whatever scene will tend to tend
to lead the humor. Like they'll be theones that are in charge of the jokes,
and so you're laughing withthem. They're the ones,
they have the agency over the humor,
and so you're neverlaughing at that character.
(22:00):
And hopefully that lets everybody, youknow, feel more, feel more comfortable.
And like, we're all here togetherin our, in our awkwardness,
in our shared tension and with respect.
Uh, I hadn't noticed that, but now thatI'm thinking back to the play, I'm like,
Oh, yeah, that is, thatis how that was handled.
There was a scene thatI especially loved, um,
Jess's helping John take ashower. Mm-hmm.
(22:23):
it connected a lovely memorywith my mom when she was sick and
passed away, um, that I was helpingtake care of her. And it was,
that scene was so beautiful,
and it really captures that like,
sort of intimate exchange of care, like,
(22:44):
of caring for, for someoneelse. Um, was that,
I'm silly question. I think
how much did you draw on your experienceas a caregiver, uh, for that scene?
And was it important to youto sort of portray that?
Yeah. And thank you for the kind, thekind of words. Yeah. Thank you. I, I,
so the, the job that I, one of the jobs I,
(23:05):
I had was working for a manwas cerebral palsy. Um, I was,
I worked with two men and, um, that was,
that was how I showered him. That waslike how I prepared him for the day.
And so I, I wrote it into thescript really specifically. Um,
and then when we, when wedid the first production,
(23:26):
I just showed them what I did. I, Iworked with, it was always Greg was,
was always in that role from the,
from the moment we had a firstproduction till, till now on Broadway.
And I just showed them likehow I, how I maneuvered.
I wanted to show how natural it is,
like how connected those two bodies are.Like it's almost a dance that they're,
(23:46):
that they're doing of, um,they've, at that point in the play,
they've been working together forI think three or a few months,
but at that point, so they've establisheda kind of rhythm with each other,
with their bodies, um, such that theycan have conversations, you know, flu,
pretty fluidly. Um, and,um, and I wanted to,
I think it's just beautiful. I watchedthat scene and I'm like, it's a scene of,
(24:06):
of somebody caring for anotherperson's, another for another person.
And it's also just soroutine, um, and, um,
such a, so natural. So I wanted to,
and I also wanted to show how muchwork it is. Mm-hmm.
like this, it's such a physical,
it's just such a physical job that thisother person is doing. But that, and,
(24:28):
and that like, um, that, that reallyboth of them are doing because they're,
they're kind of working in tandem asmuch as they, as they as they can. Um,
so I wanted to invite anaudience into what that is.
I wanted them to see it all. Ididn't wanna just open, you know,
lights up and you see, um, um, uh,
he's already in the shower chair,whatever. But like, I wanted them,
(24:48):
I wanted everyone to see that fullact. And so throughout the whole scene,
he's showered, Um, he's broughtinto the shower, he showered,
he's brought back into thiswheelchair. He's, he's, um, dressed.
His hair is done, and he is likeready for the day and the whole scene.
So I was like, yeah, I wanted to show,show people that's what the work is.
I didn't realize that that was part ofwhat I love so much about that scene,
(25:09):
but the, the feeling that they hadbeen doing this and they just had this,
this dance, Um, thatwas a great scene. Yeah.
There was a clip that I saw todaythat talks where you're talking about,
and it's very short. Like itdoesn't tell the whole story.
I'm so curious about moreof this, um, where you,
your agent was telling youthat you won the Puli tour.
(25:32):
Like, I, I mean, I partly lovethis type of story because it,
it wasn't something untilI moved to New York and,
and I met people who had been onBroadway or who had like, success, um,
in the theater. And then next, amonth later they're like, Okay,
I'm back on unemployment nowbecause I don't have a job.
I didn't really realize that.So it's really this story,
(25:55):
um, it's important tome for that kind of way.
So
Oh, yeah, yeah. I, I actually love thisstory too. Cause I'm like, this is,
it's just so exactly whatyou're saying. You're like, Yep.
And one day on Broadway, andthe next, like, like, we,
you open the show andthe next day I'm like,
gotta do my laundry and my Ikea bags,take it downstairs. Like, it was like,
(26:16):
these like sharp contrasts of, ofwhat your life is like. You know,
one day you're at this, at thisgo opening, and then you're like,
gotta do my laundry in the basement.Um,
for the day of the, I was, um,
I was supposed to be at jury duty thatday. Um, I, it was like flash floods.
I went down downtown. I, I wasall the way, all the way uptown.
(26:38):
So I went downtown. I wasn'tchosen, like, thank God,
I came back to my apartment and I wasabout to start doing my taxes because they
would do the next day. So like, great.Like, it's very, very late. Like, so I,
so I was opening upTurboTax, like ready to go,
and I get a call around threeo'clock from my agent, um,
who's screaming at methat I won the Pulitzer.
And I was so mad at him becauseI thought he was fucking with
(27:03):
me. Arthurs lying to meUhhuh. Um, and uh, uh,
it was nine minutes and 48seconds of me being like,
How dare you? Um, it was alsoApril. So I was like, Oh,
this is like a delayed April Foolsjoke. Like, how cool. Yeah. And, um,
he's just laughing at me for almost10 minutes and was like, Well,
why don't you, why don't you hang up?
(27:23):
And I think you will find that youactually indeed have won the poll for
why was 10 minutes was Iwas trying to Google it,
but apparently I didn't know this. Like,
apparently it's a live streamannouncement that that goes out.
So it was recorded, so there was no, like,
there was no language on the internet,which means it's not real that like that.
I had one that pulled Sarah, so I waslike, Was gonna watch this video. Um,
(27:45):
so I hung up and I saw that,um, I had 20, 20 texts,
like 12 or 20 texts, and the first onewas from Steven Allen GIAs being saying,
Congratulations. I was like, Oh,well, I guess it's true
And I called my agentback to apologize. Uh.
Uh, I'm sure he appreciatedthat the whole thing out.
(28:06):
Laugh at me the whole.
Time. Yeah. Well, you know, we shouldwrap up this part of our conversation.
Okay. Um, sad to say, um,
for those of you who are listeningand would like to hear more,
there'll be a little bonuspodcast conversation where we might be talking about
cats. Cats, I don't.
Know. Best content. Yeah.
All cats all the.
Time. All cats All the time.
(28:26):
Yeah. Um, so thanks forjoining me on this podcast.
Thank you for having.
Me. And, um, your, your website ismartina myo.com. Mm-hmm.
Um, anywhere else I should tell peopleto go to learn more about your work or?
I'm on, I'm on all the socials. Idon't really use Twitter that much,
but I'm on, I'm on, uh, it's all my,all my name. M A r t y N A m h A O K,
(28:47):
Um, Instagram I've been usingmore most lately, but yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Cool. All right. Thanksfor talking to me today.
Thank you.
(33:36):
That was the title track fromSophia Saba Vatex in our softening.
Uh, Sophia is going tobe on the podcast soon.
I'm very excited for thisconversation as well. Uh,
that piano has a history andit inspired the album, the,
the piano that that wasrecorded, that piece come on.
So I'm excited about so manythings that are coming up.
(33:56):
I'm excited about this thing that justhappened, this interview with, uh,
Martina Myo. A lot of things. A lot ofthings. Thanks so much for listening.
If you're a patron, uh,stop by patreon.com/michael Herron in a couple of days,
and there will be an extended catconversation
And if you're not yet a patron,
feel free to go on over thereand sign up for five bucks.
(34:17):
You get access to all that cool stuffI talked about in the beginning of the
show. Um, I'm really grateful toyou for listening. Tell a friend,
I've taken quite a pause from socialmedia right now and
the new owner of Twitter. Maybe I'llbe leaving there too. I don't know.
I'm just on a personal level,
I'm much happier not being as engagedon social media as I used to be.
(34:40):
And that is the end of this podcast.Thanks so much for listening, and, uh,
let me hear from you. Please,I'd love to hear from you.
I hope you enjoyed theinterview. See you next time.
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