An Interview with Joey Aristophanes
It’s a balmy autumn day in Athens as I make my way across the agora
(feeling slightly self-conscious in a knee-revealing tunic borrowed for the
occasion) to meet with the renowned owner and resident playwright of the New
Daedalidai Theatre, joey aristophanes. Joey is a prolific writer in the Athens
novel, (in)famous for his witty repartee and inventive ideas, and over a few
kraters of wine at a pleasant sidewalk café beneath the shadow of the
Acropolis, I pose a few burning
questions about his world and work.
Kalimera, and first of all, thanks for taking time out from your busy
schedule to talk with me, kyrios! I’ll get straight to the questions if I may
be so bold. I’m curious how your character came into being, how his life has
developed over the years and how you relate to each other?
I honestly dont remember how I found Ancient Sites or got started with this crew. It's like we've always been together. We've been writing together for now a full decade, and if you think the storylines we have now are wild, you should see some of the earlier stuff (laughs). But Joey, along with everyone else in the clan, *has* changed over the years -- when we started down this road, he was working part time as a drive-thru attendant at a wine shop called McDouzulds and trying to break into theatre. Then lifemate Max came along, and Joey found the wherewithall to just start his own company, with now four major productions to his credit. But we've all been together for so long, whether here in Daedalidai or Athens proper, that I cant imagine PH life (or even real life, for that matter) without any of them.
You’re an incredibly productive storyteller who seems to have a wealth of ingenious, even crazy, ideas and apparently no problem juggling several plotlines at a time over at Athens. Where on earth do all the ideas and inspiration come from?
I have no idea! Seriously. I just write and see where it takes me -- and of course it never hurts to have others as crazy as myself around! Sometimes I have to leave a storyline fallow for a while until I can get a good handle on it (like the time the gods went camping and discovered life in pre-PH Athens); sometimes I cant get them out fast enough. But the trick is not to overwhelm the novel with my own posts at the expense of everyone else's... although I'm sure many at Athens would question *that*. (laughs).
I also have this... well... habit of creating new characters as I need them, and then, like puppies or kittens, I feel I have to keep them and take them for walkies on occasion. Nalia the 10th muse; Murray the dead tailor; Joey's husband Max; Xeo the Spartan; Skip's "accidental twin" Luke -- all of them have come for the ride, and I cant abandon a single one. So as a result Athens gets a little crowded sometimes, because everybody has their own story to tell.
Do you have any writing projects outside of Pan Historia, either for
professional publication or for just personal enjoyment?
Several. A screenplay for a CG animation that looks like it might actually sell
(which would be a nice change), and I'm also working on a series of little
mini-portraits called "The Littles", about ordinary people in
sometimes extraordinary situations. It's short-short fiction, more character
pieces than anything else. The series started online, but lately it's been
getting some attention from a couple of publishers. And a new translation of
CANDIDE with my own illustrations, but that's still early on.
I have to ask you about your artwork! We’re thrilled to introduce the first of your off-the-wall cartoons, History Bytes, in this Pan Historian edition, and I’ve admired other examples of your distinctive illustration work and theatrical design before. Would you tell us something about that aspect of your creative self?
I started as a commercial illustrator way back in the Dark Ages from which there are few if any written records. Then I moved up to doing graphic design, then 3D modeling, then exhibit and trade show design and theatre work. It's been quite a ride over the years, with one notable achievement I'm especially proud of: a production that had its world premiere in Merida, Spain, in a 2,000 year old Roman theatre. It used high-tech projection work and virtual music and I don't know what all else. We worked on it for two years, and the result was amazing.
But I love to illustrate, even if it's only seen by me and a handful of others brave enough to see what twisted things I've conjured up -- like the "gay-disco" take on Bulfinch's MYTHOLOGY. Whole new perspective on things like the Trojan War and the Labours of Heracles (laughs).
Our theme this time round in the Pan Historian is ‘Locations’, and as locations go, they don’t come much better than Athens, with all these fabulous temples and gymnasia *waves a hand around in appreciation and tries not to stare at the naked athletes*. So how much does the history and culture of the city itself inspire and feature in your stories?
It's definitely a wonderful leaping-off point. Still, I have a few groundrules for myself when I write in Athens, and the most important one is that I have to respect the period. I can be anachronistic as all hell (One storyline actually referred to e-mail!), but it's still Athens in 399BC. Chariots, not cars. Indoor plumbing hasn't been devised yet, nor have telephones. It's a very specific world, and I feel bound to honour that. So when Joey "invents" something for the theatre -- like the intermission or the overture or all-singing-all-dancing chorus line -- I try to position it in such a way that we see it emerge as naturally as possible from what *could* have happened in 399BC. It's not just thrown out there. For example, Joey was producing something called KYRIA BUTTERFLY, and I imagine you can guess where that was coming from. But out of that, by sheer accident, the audience-participation melodrama was born, complete with catcalls at the villain, when Skip and Xeo had had a bit too much to drink and drunkenly headed to the stage to protect a friend of theirs they thought was in real danger. Again, it just... *happened*, with no forethought, so I got to enjoy that sense of twisted discovery along with anyone else reading the post. Bottom line is, it all has to emerge with at least a marginal respect for the time and place itself. Keyword here: marginal. (laughs)
Would you have liked to really live in Classical Athens, do you think?
Not Athens itself (too big for my taste), but the Classical Era, yes, in a heartbeat. One of the smaller seaside towns, perhaps, where I could be a simple poet and pot-painter with a sexy carpenter at my side. There was a genuine simplicity to those times that we've lost, a sense of connection to the planet. Yes, a lot of war. Yes, social issues that we'd see as definitely problematic. But still, it was a time of exploration and discovery, in the arts, in law, in civil works, in technology. And you didn't have to plug a damn thing in to make any of it work.
Thank you, kyrios, it’s been a great pleasure to chat with you! I have just one final question - when HBO make Athens into a sexy, scurrilous prime-time historical TV series, who should they be casting as the Aristophanes brothers?
Yikes. Well, considering we write in pretty much real time, Joey and Skip (and Luke, of course) are now all into their early 40s, even though all three still act like kids most of the time. And while they may style themselves as identical twins, let's face it: Skip and Luke are the hotties in the family! I always saw Joey as a slightly older Brad Pitt (Hey, we *are* talking fantasy here, right?), with Eric Bana as Max, while Skip, Luke, and Xeo are more the Gerard Butler, "300" type. Xeo being a Spartan, I guess that's a given, huh. And although she's not my character to play with, Phyrne? If you're reading this? Lady, you *are* Kristin Chenoweth!
Can I have a role in your next play, please?
Of course! You just leave your headshot at the door. Don't bother to send a
messenger. We'll send a messenger to you.