An Interview with Maday Favela - What is Gen Z Theatre?

2/29/2024

GENEVIEVE: Can you introduce yourself and how you got into theater and what you're doing now?

MADAY: My name's Maday. I was born in Mexico. I got into storytelling from my dad. Instead of having storybooks, he would just make up stories. We had a cat named Copia, which mean copy. Later on I learned that she passed away, but he didn't want me to know that she passed away, so he told me that she got her little heels and she went to take care of kittens in another town. There was a lot of stories that he would tell me, and over time it got to the point where I'd be like, “Actually, that's not how the story goes, sir.” So I think that's where I got the love of storytelling, and also just from all the bonfires in Mexico, scary stories, legends, all the fun stuff. But theater…It was Noises Off, and it was my freshman year of high school. I actually got kicked off the soccer team because of it. But then I was like, okay, I guess I'll do theater now. And then from there, it kind of just went downhill, or uphill, or both. I was always in the lighting crew, and when I was seeing Noises Off, I was like, oh, it's kind of cool, the back lights look like stars. And I think that's what drew me into it. In The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan, I made these pendant, like, basically an exposed lightbulb. I made like 25 of them at different lengths, and they were all those vintage-style lightbulbs. So they gave a really warm glow, and they had the cool little filaments, like little swirls and stuff. So before school, I would just go into the theater and plug in those lights and sit under them. It was really peaceful. Then I wrote my first play, also in high school, produced it, went to community college, then went to The Theater School, and now we're here.

GENEVIEVE: Yeah, so what do you do now?

MADAY: That's a great fucking question.

GENEVIEVE: Well, I guess what have you been doing in the past year?

MADAY: I did a lot of touring. I was lighting tech, and it was a lot of fun. But it's also very taxing, for sure. And I think it could be very hit or miss with the people you work with. It's like either you're with a really wonderful crew, or you're with the most unhinged people that are mildly racist. I actually think that's the biggest difference between the music industry and theater in terms of the technical side. The music industry is very much still a boys' club. I remember one of the guys was like, “Oh, you're not going to be like one of those girls”. And I was like, “Do you want to unpack that?” I also realized that sometimes the amount of money isn't worth the abuse they put you through… I've also been at Chicago Scenic Studios for the past two years on and off as an electrician. And at Steppenwolf right now, as over hire. But yeah, that’s kind of what I've been doing.

GENEVIEVE: Nice.

MADAY: Oh, there was carpentry somewhere in between there, but, you know.

GENEVIEVE: You're working a lot in tech, but, like you said, you also write and direct. So, having knowledge and experience in both of those realms, how do they influence each other and your work as a theater maker?

MADAY: It makes me more conscious of what can and can't be done. I anticipate and plan. For example, I write around what I know I'm capable of doing technically and what could be achieved technically. I think one of the biggest, not necessarily problems, but misconceptions is that tech is magic, that tech can make anything happen. For the most part it can, but the more elaborate things take a lot of money. So, for me, I find that I am most creative when I have the biggest limitations. If I only have 30 lights and you have to put a gel in there, then like you're gonna be way more conscious about what colors you want as opposed to having an LED light. Not seeing tech as an afterthought to the process, but rather integrated within the process.

GENEVIEVE: On the other side, are there ways in which your writing or directing experience influences how you operate as a technician and designer?

MADAY: It's definitely made me better with communication. Directors like speaking in metaphor. And I love our friend so much, but I will forever use this example. When I was working with them, I asked them what type of fade they wanted. They said, “I want it to feel like a bowling ball dropping into sand”. I went, “That is not a time.” When they said that I was like, okay, they're chasing this feeling of immediacy, but there's still a softness for it. The technical side is very logical. Directing and playwriting are not necessarily the most logical. They’re more imaginary and fantastical. It's like one of them is more of a free form, where the other one is more dependent on parameters of what you can and can't do. I think you understand what I'm trying to say, right?

GENEVIEVE: Yeah, I like to call it like my creative brain and my rational brain. I try to have a balance between the two.

MADAY: Yeah, so it's like also logical versus feeling. Logically, that meant one second. On the other hand, it's also what I try to do when I am directing, is call attention to the actors that there are limitations. It's also really fun to write and be like, this is what I could do technologically.

GENEVIEVE: That is really exciting. In all of your roles, what would you say your values are as an artist?

MADAY: There was a guest speaker in a class who said something and it just stuck to me: “Play with the seriousness of a child.”

GENVIEVE: Yeah! I was there. It was the puppeteer. Wish I could remember.

MADAY: Yes. It was for Zoom University.

GENVIEVE: Yes. It was Zoom University. So forgive us for not remembering your name, dear brilliant soul. If you are reading this, please reveal yourself. 

MADAY: And at the end of the day, I've always tried to not beat myself up because art is art and people are going to choose to hear what they want to hear. They're certainly going to believe what they want to believe.

GENEVIEVE: Real.

MADAY: I think it's just a matter of being true and kind to myself and the people around me and have fun. It's not that serious.It is, but it isn't.

GENEVIEVE: Speaking of, what elements of making theater excite you?

MADAY: Not tech week. I think it's in moments, definitely the first week of rehearsals where everyone is kind of trying to feel out each other's energy. I feel that that's where the wildest ideas come from.

GENEVIEVE: I think that's a beautiful answer. So what do you notice as a major difference when working with people that are in our generation versus not?

MADAY: This one's a big one. There’s two. The first one is moving away from this idea that someone is being difficult when in reality they're just not tolerating your abuse. I'm so happy we've gotten that far. During the Pitbull tour, I believe I was labeled difficult. But in reality, I wasn't letting the racist white people bully me. Bless Ricky Martin, though. I love him. The biggest difference is suffering for the art versus recognizing that the art can die, but you can't necessarily… die. You can, but you shouldn't. The art should die before you do.

GENEVIEVE: Right.

MADAY: Especially if you're like 20.

GENEVIEVE: Right.

MADAY: That’s the other one, and that's because I just absolutely hate the saying, “Early is on time. On time is late, and late is unacceptable.” Because you're not paying me to be there early. I'm like, on time is on time. If you're prepared and you're on time. And also just like, shit happens. You're going to be late once in a while. But I've noticed that with the older generations that if you are a minute late that's unacceptable. Like, I still did the job. That one specifically irks me because your professionalism isn't dependent on how much unpaid time you're giving to people. I'm there for the time you pay me with, otherwise I am a human being.

GENEVIEVE: You can still be a human being while you're being paid, ideally.

MADAY: Ideally. 

GENEVIEVE: You mentioned earlier about the differences between touring under the commercial sphere and working in nonprofit theaters or nonprofits specifically. What elements of that do you prefer on one side and what do you prefer on the other? 

MADAY: Touring pays way better. Way better. And you also get to see the world. The pay was great, but money is money and it will go away. The traveling is fun, but when you realize that you're spending most of your time on a bus with 10 kind of stinky men, all of a sudden you realize you're putting a lot of your body and mental state on the line. You can't really mask because you're always with the same people for 16 hours. So as hard as you try to like mask or regulate your emotions, you're with them so much that they know when something's up. I've made some truly wonderful friends on tour and sometimes it could be really nice bonding. But sometimes there is a person who does not comprehend that you are queer and that you do not want to date him.

GENEVIEVE: Yikes. What about pros of working in nonprofit theater that are not present in your commercial work experience?

MADAY: I think community for sure. In touring, they're like, “A the end of the day, you're here for a job, so fuck your personal life.” Actually, you can have feelings and be a complex human being and also do a job. I love that theater recognizes that and they give you space for it.They give you space to be a little off and silly. Not that you don't have that in touring, but I think touring emphasizes your purpose here is job. In theater, you have a job, but also connect with people and have fun.

GENEVIEVE: Yeah, that part is nice.

MADAY: We do it for the community.

GENEVIEVE: Yes! My last question for you is, what do you hope for for the future of theater?

MADAY: I wish the education part of theater was less labeled and individualistic. We get lost in “I am a costume designer”, “I am a lighting designer”. The more that we isolate ourselves to one facet of theater, the more we're limiting what we are able to do and the less prepared we are to communicate with one another. We just kind of expect each other to conform to what we know and to understand each other. On the educational side, I wish people got more holistic training and that they were equally versed in everything… When it comes to diversity, there is a difference between stories that apply to the American experience and for people of color experiencing America. There's this cultural story that also deserves to be told. I don't think that diversity should be having one of everyone everywhere. That's impossible to do. But giving the avenues to share a culture and understanding, making theater and storytelling an invitation to learn without the expectation that it would have a direct correlation to what we already know in our culture, is possible. Some things get lost in translation and that's okay because you're not supposed to know everything and not everything is meant for you to know. But you should still be curious and try to discover it, respectfully.

GENEVIEVE: Agreed. Well, thank you very much for talking to me, Maday.