An Interview with Melissa Maxwell
Note: Melissa Maxwell was originally scheduled to visit MTSU in March 2020 — but then the pandemic hit. Kaelyn Giles interviewed her prior to that visit.
Maxwell Maxwell is an actor, director, award-winning writer, educator, and motivational speaker. She is also the Co-Associate Artistic Director and company member of The Great River Shakespeare Festival, and the Director of Professional Development at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting-NYC. For an extensive list of writing, acting, and directing credits, visit her website. Also be sure to check out her remarkable TEDx Talks. Her play-in-progress Imbroglio will have a staged reading on Thursday, September 23, at 4:30 pm at the Ingram MT Center, and she will join us for a discussion after the show.
What was your “theatre moment,” i.e. the moment you realized that theatre was your passion?
In high school, I used to make all my own clothes. I made my prom dress, worked for a tailor, and had been accepted into three different colleges for Fashion Design. However, in my junior year I needed an elective, and nothing on the list of choices looked interesting to me but for a class called Play Production. I didn’t even know what “play production” meant, but it sounded a heck of a lot more interesting than math or chemistry. That was my introduction to theatre and where I got bitten by the acting bug.
How do you make sure all of your creative needs are met during projects since you have many interests in theatre?
Good question! I’m not entirely sure I know the answer to that. Like most of life, there are times when you are in balance and times when you find yourself out of balance. It is always painfully palpable when you are out of balance, but that does not necessarily mean you know exactly why. However, I will say this — and it is something I tell all students and young artists I meet — you must think of creativity as one of two things (use whichever resonates with you most): Creativity is a furnace. OR: Creativity is a monster. If you don’t feed a furnace, it dies out. If you don’t feed a monster, it will eat you alive. If you are a creative being, you MUST find a way to feed the monster (or furnace) daily! It is your responsibility and yours alone. Do NOT wait for the phone to ring. You cannot wait on others to give you the opportunity to create. Whether it means getting up early and allotting two hours a day to writing before school/work or getting a group of your friends together to produce a play, etc., you must do something daily to express yourself creatively. Your sanity and your soul depend upon it.
In your TEDx Talk “Taking Ownership,” you mention sometimes having to forge your own future even if it may be against what others in your life want for you. What would you suggest to current college students who are currently experiencing doubt in their own ability?
1. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should others? 2. Better to have tried than to spend your life wondering what if. Listen to your heart. I know it sounds corny, but it is true. Your heart is your internal compass, telling you if you are going in the right direction. If the Wright Brothers had let all the naysayers convince them their dream wasn’t possible, we’d all still be traveling via train and boat. There will always be something or someone telling you your goal is unattainable. Only you can determine for yourself if that is true or not.
What is a current project you are working on that you would be willing to share?
I just finished directing Lynn Nottage’s CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY at Juilliard. My play IMBROGLIO that is being read at Middle Tennessee State University on [September 23] is something I am excited about. I am also currently co-writing a play with Rob Urbinati, something I am also excited about but can’t expound upon at this time. Lastly, I am a company member of the Great River Shakespeare Festival. This summer I am scheduled to play Prospero in THE TEMPEST and Baptista in TAMING OF THE SHREW. In Tempest, I will be playing Prospero as a man. In TAMING, they are role-reversing the entire cast; all the male roles will be played by women and all the female roles will be played by men. So, I will be playing the role of the father as a woman.
In your TEDx Talk “On Courage,” you talk about how fears keep us from becoming our best selves and how sometimes we need to run right toward that fear. What fear has previously held you back from what you’ve achieved so far in your career?
Just to clarify, I don’t suggest “running” into anything. However, when fear greets us as it likes to do, and especially when it is accompanied by its buddies Self-Doubt and/or Irrationality, it has a way of clouding our judgement, paralyzing us. This is one of the main reasons most people don’t achieve their goals, or don’t even attempt to go for what they want. Rather than running from the thing that scares us, if we allow ourselves to stand our ground and work through the fear, often it will dissipate, and great reward will be on the other side. Now, to answer your question: fear of failure, of being wrong, of looking stupid, of being judged, not liked… Gosh! The list is long; fill in the blank.
What moment do you most cherish in your artistic process thus far?
I don’t know how people manage to answer that question. I don’t have just one favorite — of anything. Different things have affected or impacted me differently for various reasons depending upon where I was in my life at that particular time. That said, doing Nilaja Sun’s one-woman show NO CHILD… last summer, in which I played sixteen different characters, is certainly among my list of career highs. It scared the Bejesus out of me and challenged me in ways I hadn’t previously been challenged, but it was also one of the most rewarding creative experiences I’ve had to date. I also had a tremendously splendid time performing M’Lynn in STEEL MAGNOLIAS at the Guthrie this past fall. Everything about that production and process was spectacular. However, in a larger sense, I would say that the thing I cherish most about my artistic process is that I have been able to carve out a life for myself that allows me to make a living as an artist and affords me the opportunity to switch back and forth between being a director, writer and actor.
Being a female artist, what struggles have you had navigating male-dominated spaces in the theatre community, and how have you overcome them?
Like many women, there’ve been times when I’ve been underestimated or dismissed or talked over. More often, I’ve been called a “bitch” or seen as “aggressive” for asserting myself or having a strong opinion. Each situation is different and, so, warrants a different approach. When I was younger, I used to think it was simply about being right, but age has taught me differently. With practice, you learn how to matrix your way around things. The main thing I try to remind myself is: is it worth it? The basic rule of thumb is to pick your battles wisely; you don’t want to win the battle only to lose the war. That being said, in life and in general, you must find a way to stay true to self.
What parts of yourself and aspects of your life do you often find appearing in your work (in playwriting and/or directing).
Oh, my! Thaaaaaaat’s a really good question. I don’t know. There was a novelist on C-Span many years ago who said that all writers are working something out and that it is present in all of their writing whether they are conscious of it or not; no matter what they do, they repeatedly are asking or answering the same question(s). However, my experience has been more that I find my art imitating my life and visa versa. Here are two examples:
Four years ago, my partner of 31 years passed away in my arms suddenly and unexpectedly. It was a devastating time. All I knew was to throw myself into my art as a way to heal. The twelve years previous, I had not been acting, only directing. However, my efforts to lean into life as a way of dealing with my grief created a series of unexpected events that got me back on stage again. A year later, I found myself playing Queen Margaret in RICHARD III (they kill her husband and son and she spends the entire play angry and grieving and raging against the establishment). It was cathartic to celebrate the one-year anniversary of my partner’s death doing that role; and I dare say I could not have played that character a year and a half earlier with the same depth or understanding.
In directing CRUMBS at Juilliard just a month ago, I had a similar experience. In the play the oldest daughter discovers and reads some very private notes of her father’s, helping her to gain a better understanding of him. During tech, I was going through old papers from my mom’s estate in an effort to purge and found three letters in my father’s handwriting. Though I am still searching for the significance of why those letters now, the irony was not lost on me.
Though, to answer your question, as an artist, I guess I am always most interested in “points of contact.” Being human is a messy business. We are all looking to be seen and heard and validated. Yet, most of life and drama is about our awkward, failed attempts of communication and contact. That fascinates me: why we can’t (often don’t) simply ask for what we need and want.
What is something that you see in this emerging group of young artists that gives you hope for the future of theatre?
There is a lot of diversity of voices, and there is some bold storytelling being told. That is really exciting.
Kaelyn Giles is an English major with minors in Theatre and Psychology.
