Clement Martini

Clem Martini (Playwriting, 1982) has produced more than thirty plays and has published nine books of fiction and nonfiction. He is a three time winner of the Alberta Writer’s Guild Drama Prize, a Governor General Drama Nominee for his anthology A Three Martini Lunch, a Siminovitch Prize Nominee, a National Playwriting Competition winner for The Life History of the African Elephant and is the Past President of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. He presently heads the Department of Drama at the University of Calgary.
His play Bitter Medicine, directed by Patrick Finn, is being presented at the 2014 SummerWorks Performance Festival
Interviewed on November 2012
Photo: Clem Martini
You were part of the very first cohort of Playwriting students to go through the NTS, tell us how you arrived at the School?
I was finishing my theatre studies at the University of Calgary. I enjoyed acting but I’d always known that I wanted to write; that was the art form I was most drawn to. However, there weren’t many playwriting programs at the time. My student advisor had heard about one starting up at the National Theatre School and suggested that I apply.
Do you remember your admission interview to NTS?
Yes, I met with Joël Miller at the Palliser Hotel, in Calgary. I was nervous! I’d submitted a play and thought that if they were going to accept me, they’d be looking primarily at that… I didn’t know what else I could do to advance my cause. We had a good conversation and I was delighted when I was accepted to the program. It was a terrific feeling.
Who were some of teachers who marked your passage at the School?
I spent a lot of time with Joël Miller discussing the form and the execution of the form. Per Brask was also one of our instructors, and I have fond memories of Peter Wylde, who taught us theatre history. He was a terrific teacher, very articulate and passionate about plays.
How did you enjoy living in Montreal?
I enjoyed it very much. I found Montreal to be a very rich cultural experience. There was always something to see and it was a hotbed of discussion. When I was there, it was just after the first referendum (held in 1980) and there was a lot to talk about.
What did you learn at the School that has served you throughout your career?
One of the things that I relished about the NTS was the conservatory approach. You were totally immersed and fully present throughout the entire creative process: from workshops to rehearsals to production.
Writing isn’t something you do in isolation. As a writer, you want to see who the actors are, what the design looks like. And the more you know about the craft of acting, the more you’re able to write for actors and the more likely it is that your works will be produced.
One of the great gifts of the NTS is that I was able to work alongside the actors and I listened very carefully to what they said when we were in rehearsal. And I watched very closely as they performed the works – what was a good fit, what words came out most easily from their mouths, where were they least able to bring the words to life. This was invaluable.
What was your first job after graduation?
I returned to Calgary and worked as a writer for an insurance company for two years. I wanted to practice writing words and this was a good experience. I wrote their journals, quarterlies, articles, advertising, and interviews; I was also in charge in running the conferences.
Then I got my first playwriting residency, at Chinook Theatre, in Edmonton. This was much more artistically satisfying – I got my first professional plays produced out of that residency – but much less lucrative. During that period, I was also teaching playwriting at the under-graduate level, at the University of Calgary, on a free-lance basis. After about 15 years, I was offered a full-time position, teaching at the graduate and under-graduate levels.
When you were at the NTS, did you ever think that one day, you’d be Head of the Drama Department at the University of Calgary?
It never occurred to me! Being the head of the department was not one of my dreams, but there you go, you never know where your career will lead you.
You can certainly be clear about your interests and your passions, but your career kind of shapes itself as doors open and you walk through them. You’re guided by your own vision, but you don’t know, ultimately, what it’ll look like. I’ve always known that I wanted to write and I’m writing. But there are lots of different hats that you wear on that path.
What advice would you give young writers starting their career?
I suppose the advice would be to write about what you’re most passionate about. Sometimes, people are looking for the device that’ll propel their career or the absence in the art form that needs to be filled, and that can prove fruitless. Think of what you want to say and your passion will guide you better than anything else.
Has that changed at all for you over the years?
Well, yes and no. I think that you spend your whole life trying to articulate one thing in different ways. There are lots of different stories and directions that you take, many themes that you follow. But, looking back at your career, you realize that there is a kind of unifying theme or underlying direction that binds it all together. I’m a playwright, but that hasn’t prevented me from writing films, novels, opera. And sometimes you’re adapting things back and forth: short stories become plays, plays become films, scripts end up being published as novellas.
Is there a particular place where you like to write?
Yes, I write at the dining room table. It’s a friendly place, it’s got lots of elbow room, people can sit across from me and talk, and we can exchange ideas back and forth.
You’re surrounded with writers at home as well?
A. Yes, my wife (Cheryl Foggo) is a writer and both our daughters have graduated from writing programs. I don’t know if playwriting is necessarily the direction they’re going in, although who can say? I think that when you become a writer, you find your way into different means of communicating your vision.
If you hadn’t become a writer, do you know what you would’ve done? Did you have a Plan B?
I don’t know if I even had a Plan A! I knew I wanted to write, but I wasn’t sure where that would lead. When I was in high school, during the 70s, I never studied Canadian playwrights and there wasn’t much in the way of Canadian theatre. In fact, I’d never even seen a Canadian play. It was the beginning of a surge of Canadian regional theatres and they were just beginning to fall into place, but I wasn’t exposed to very much.
I had no idea where you lined up to become a professional writer. But I entered contests (plays, short stories and novellas) and I had a feeling that if I kept doing this, eventually something would be produced. And, ultimately, that proved to be true, but it wasn’t much of a plan. I was simply following an impulse and trusted that eventually, it would take me in the right direction.
What do you love most about the process of writing?
AI am a little bit of a fool for writing! It’s one of my most enjoyable experiences. When I find my way into the piece, it’s truly a joyful experience.
I enjoy meeting my characters; I get caught up in the work that’s created and I’m moved by their goals and ambitions. Some days, I can’t wait to sit down and write… that’s not always the case, but it’s a fabulous feeling.
I’m a structuralist. I like to have some sense of where the story or characters are going before I begin. But once I’ve set out on the journey, there are many times that the characters will rebuke me or contradict me, or new characters will step up and introduce themselves, and suddenly I’m off in a slightly different direction. I find that surprisingly wonderful.
What’s opening night like for you when one of your works is produced?
Opening night is not necessarily the best night! It can be great, but there’s lots of tension and anxiety involved. As the writer, you’re aware of what happened during rehearsals and the challenges that the actors are facing. And you’re hyper-aware of the audience. Nonetheless, it’s always very exciting. I like to sit in the audience, at the back of the theatre. I want to be able to experience the show and view the audience’s reactions.
What are you working on now?
I just finished an opera for the Calgary Opera (What Brought Us Here: A New Community Opera, at the Arrata Opera Centre, in September 2012) and we’re in discussions about doing another one. My latest book, Martini with a Twist, published by Edmonton’s NeWest Press, is a collection of five one act plays (four of which were previously unpublished). I’m also working on a book about ancient Greek and Roman comic playwrights, and a novel on one of the ancient playwrights.
Please complete this phrase: If I’d known then what I know now…
I would tell my younger self simply to write, and the writing will provide the necessary guidance.