Brian Groh spent his summers bucking hay for a nickel a bale in the rural Ozarks
before hitchhiking across the country to see “what’s out there.” Never able to stick with one thing, he’s created a resume that can only be useful as a professional storyteller. From undercover work for a Florida P.I. to hull-maintenance diver in Marina Del Rey, these varied life experiences are often the settings for his stories written for screen and stage. Brian is an ongoing contributor to the famed Naked Angels Tuesdays@9 writing series and a fellowship winner at Writers Boot Camp. He’s performed at Tongue and Groove and his FunnyOrDie sketch achieved the site’s highest honor of “Immortal.” He is available for polite conversation at [email protected].
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Brian Groh interview, with Drama Editor Kathleen Dennehy
Is this your first play?
It is. I have staged a number of “scenes” for scene nights at various venues in Los Angeles. But Acorn Calf is my first fully developed one act that is production ready. Other pieces I have written were targeting say- a Christmas show or some other themed night of theater.
What inspired you to write this play?
Acorn Calf owes its existence to a fellow writer- Liza Powell. We were mutual fans of each other and she threw down the gauntlet, saying “Hey, I’m going to rent a theater and do a stage reading of one of my pieces. Do you want to share the night with a piece of your own?” I immediately said “Yes” because I had just finished a piece I was proud of under the ostentatious title of “You Really Fucked Me Back There.” The happy accident is that after securing the theater, she decided to do a staged production of her piece. Well, there was no way I was going to have actors reading from their chairs if she was going to have a fully rehearsed performance. Unfortunately, my piece was not written for the stage, having driving scenes and multiple locations. So I quickly abandoned that idea and went home and wrote Acorn Calf. This play was pure problem solving on my end. I needed a play using actors I knew that could be put up with a minimal set. Deadlines and restrictions like that are a writer’s best friend. It narrows the possibilities of what my characters can do in the physical space and forces me to develop the story through dialogue.
Perhaps you feel you've said it all in this length, but since the characters are so full-bodied and complicated, do you envision ever fleshing it out to a full length play?
Absolutely. All I need is someone to give me a deadline! I would bring in that fourth character, the “Forsythe Girl, Sally” that Rufus has been sleeping with and Conners is ultimately in love with.
Absolutely. All I need is someone to give me a deadline! I would bring in that fourth character, the “Forsythe Girl, Sally” that Rufus has been sleeping with and Conners is ultimately in love with.
The characters all have a modern if rural sensibility yet also seem to embody dramatic archetypes going back to Greek Theater- was this intentional or am I being pretentious?
You’ve just given me a rich well to draw from as I move forward with this piece. Acorn Calf is a tragedy with subconscious incestuous acting out from Conners, and no one tells those kind of stories better than the Greeks.
You’ve just given me a rich well to draw from as I move forward with this piece. Acorn Calf is a tragedy with subconscious incestuous acting out from Conners, and no one tells those kind of stories better than the Greeks.
Your writing has a desolate spareness. I know you are from Missouri, (and I am about to make a huge generalization,) but since you come from (what I imagine is) a less urban area, is there an environmental reason behind your spareness or is that a deliberate choice? ( By way of example, you can tell by how many words I took to craft this question that I am from New York!)
There is no denying that I like the space between. The space between words, people, buildings- everything. The memories of my youth are romanticized. They play on a loop in my head. There’s me, twelve, lying on a round bale in January, my breath condensing in the air, mixing with the clouds. This is the place I go when I write. Out of that, somehow, comes Acorn Calf.
Considering that you are a very physical and nature-oriented person (a horseback rider, a dive master, trained EMT paramedic), what draws you to writing and theater?
True, the two have no relation. I think my creative life and my physical life are a break from each other. Those two worlds rarely collide and that’s evident when none of my scuba buddies come to a show. Also I’ve never written characters who are artists or stories about struggling artists.
True, the two have no relation. I think my creative life and my physical life are a break from each other. Those two worlds rarely collide and that’s evident when none of my scuba buddies come to a show. Also I’ve never written characters who are artists or stories about struggling artists.
What kind of stories draw you and compel you to write?
I’m a lazy writer. Cari Lynn (The Whistleblower) will go and do research on the trading floor in Chicago for two years to write a story about day traders. I’m compelled to write stories that I can finish. The pen doesn’t usually hit the page until I have a strong grasp of what the entertaining element is. That may be a character, or a plot, or an environment. But I have to be entertained first. When I’m writing, I’m laughing out loud, I’m cringing, I’m jaw dropped at what my characters are doing. If that isn’t happening, it’s hard for me to get up the next day and continue on the piece.
I’m a lazy writer. Cari Lynn (The Whistleblower) will go and do research on the trading floor in Chicago for two years to write a story about day traders. I’m compelled to write stories that I can finish. The pen doesn’t usually hit the page until I have a strong grasp of what the entertaining element is. That may be a character, or a plot, or an environment. But I have to be entertained first. When I’m writing, I’m laughing out loud, I’m cringing, I’m jaw dropped at what my characters are doing. If that isn’t happening, it’s hard for me to get up the next day and continue on the piece.
I know you are also an actor. Why did you start writing?
It’s amazing now to look back and see how obvious the signs were and how good I was at ignoring them. I went to college for Aerospace Engineering and struggled through Calc II with a D-. Meanwhile, in my elective Creative Writing course I received an A and one of my essays was published in their annual program. I never told anybody. I was obsessed with my academic failure towards my major. After that came the lost years, which ultimately became my golden years for material. Somewhere around 25 I realized I wanted to be a storyteller. I foresaw that I would act until my mid 30’s and then start writing for stage and screen. And in my 50’s I’ll start writing prose. Things get blurry for what happens in my 60’s.
It’s amazing now to look back and see how obvious the signs were and how good I was at ignoring them. I went to college for Aerospace Engineering and struggled through Calc II with a D-. Meanwhile, in my elective Creative Writing course I received an A and one of my essays was published in their annual program. I never told anybody. I was obsessed with my academic failure towards my major. After that came the lost years, which ultimately became my golden years for material. Somewhere around 25 I realized I wanted to be a storyteller. I foresaw that I would act until my mid 30’s and then start writing for stage and screen. And in my 50’s I’ll start writing prose. Things get blurry for what happens in my 60’s.
When did you want to be a performer? And why?
Storytelling is different than performing. I hold the story sacred above all else. And I will want to contribute to that story with whatever skills that I can. When Acorn Calf was staged, I played the role of Rufus because I could. When my pilot “Tools” was stage-read at Naked Angels, there wasn’t a role for me. I don’t write myself into my pieces. My feeling of content comes from telling a good story. So, no- I’ve never wanted to be a performer, but if my performance can lend itself to the story then I will let me audition.
Storytelling is different than performing. I hold the story sacred above all else. And I will want to contribute to that story with whatever skills that I can. When Acorn Calf was staged, I played the role of Rufus because I could. When my pilot “Tools” was stage-read at Naked Angels, there wasn’t a role for me. I don’t write myself into my pieces. My feeling of content comes from telling a good story. So, no- I’ve never wanted to be a performer, but if my performance can lend itself to the story then I will let me audition.
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In order to preserve the artistic arrangement of the writing, this piece has been created with Print2Flash Flashpaper.All Connotation Press plays are presented online to the reading public. All performance rights, including professional, amateur, television and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. If you are interested in seeking performance rights to a specific work contact the Drama Editor, Kathleen Dennehy.
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Drama Editor Kathleen Dennehy is a NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate who studied with John Guare, David Mamet, Anne Bogart. She is an essayist/performer: Sit N' Spin, Book Soup, Hatch, Tongue and Groove and her essays have been published in Fresh Yarn, Note to Self and Weston Magazine. Kathleen is the Creative Director of Naked Angels' Tuesdays@9 LA - a cold reading workshop for writers and she created the creative writing program at Hillsides, a school for foster and at-risk children. Under contract to re-write a screenplay for Rachel Davidson, at Laura Ziskin, Sony Studios, Kathleen is a writer/editor/consultant and the curator of MNWG- a long running writers group in Los Angeles.
Drama Editor Kathleen Dennehy is a NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate who studied with John Guare, David Mamet, Anne Bogart. She is an essayist/performer: Sit N' Spin, Book Soup, Hatch, Tongue and Groove and her essays have been published in Fresh Yarn, Note to Self and Weston Magazine. Kathleen is the Creative Director of Naked Angels' Tuesdays@9 LA - a cold reading workshop for writers and she created the creative writing program at Hillsides, a school for foster and at-risk children. Under contract to re-write a screenplay for Rachel Davidson, at Laura Ziskin, Sony Studios, Kathleen is a writer/editor/consultant and the curator of MNWG- a long running writers group in Los Angeles.