Final Five Questions with Cris Eli Blak
African-American playwright and producer finds connection through his words.
Back in June 2020, Cris Eli Blak sat down with WINMI when he was just a senior in college, but he imparted a wisdom far beyond his years. From thoughts on the current racial tensions gripping the country to how theater can be a voice in the midst of it, Cris shares from the heart and from his art. He opens up about his own challenges and struggles as a writer and the type of writing and storytelling he wants to give the world. His answers are both touching and moving, giving a better understanding of where we are and a brighter hope for where we can ultimately go.
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Patrick Oliver Jones: If you could have any other job outside of the arts, outside of writing, what would that be?
Cris Eli Blak: Without a doubt education, I’d be an educator. I would probably teach high school history. I don’t have any interest in teaching college, even though it’s probably more money in that. Because if you’re teaching college, you’re teaching kids who have already gotten into college. So they have something figured out. High school, especially based on the high school I went to, we need more teachers who one believe in their students.
You know, I went to a high school that was 90% Black and Hispanic. And I had a good amount of teachers who did not teach and who saw us as people who were not fit for society, which is unfortunate but it’s the reality. And I also had a lot of great teachers — and the great teachers know who they are, cause I’m in contact with them still. The not-so-great teachers can just assume what they want. But yeah, I definitely teach high.
POJ: What is a bucket list role or show that you still hope to do one day?
CEB: The one that immediately comes to mind is tick, tick…boom playing Johnny. Just because every song rings true. Johnny’s up and pacing, and it’s just him talking about “Am I gonna make it as a writer. I’m not getting any younger and I’m not getting any richer. And I have these friends and relationships that are climbing above me.” So yeah, I definitely do Johnny.
And I wanna be in Cats. People can judge me! Cats…it’s like the most fun show to do. I don’t care if you like it, but Cats just looks— you could do anything in Cats and it makes sense. Like when I was in Hair, a lot of the choreography and blocking was just like touch each other and act high, act like you’re on drugs. I was like, oh yeah, I could ACE this dance call. So yeah, I definitely wanna do Cats.
I’d want to do Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s probably one of, if not my favorite musical It’s one of those shows that every single song is just catchy and enjoyable. I’d love to play Judas in that show or even Peter. Definitely not Jesus. Cause I can’t get that high note at the end. (laughing) I can’t do that. So yeah, those would definitely be the ones that came to mind.
POJ: Who is it that you look up to as a mentor or someone that inspires you?
CEB: Personally, again, those family members and teachers who have taken the time to really have a belief in me and motivate me and support me. And even with family, I’m lucky to have come from a family that supported my dreams of being in the arts. Cause I could have gone a very different way, as it does with a lot of people. I remember when I was a senior in high school, we had this project in my AP English class. It was to make a vision board and basically to say what you wanna do in life and all your dreams and aspirations.
And every single kid in my class wanted to either be a doctor or a dentist or a lawyer. And then I stood up, I was like, “I wanna write musicals and plays and movies.” And they looked at me like, “Oh, okay, so you wanna be broke.” But the funny thing is every single one of those doctors, dentists, lawyers in their speech said, “I really enjoy writing, but it’s more money in medicine” or “my parents want me to be in medicine.” And that’s just really emphasized, oh man, I don’t know if I’m making the best decisions, but I’m really lucky to be able to make those decisions. And just be able to confidently say, “yeah, this is what I wanna do with my life.” Definitely family members and teachers, personally.
Professionally, I have a huge admiration for August Wilson and for Spike Lee. I remember when I saw Fences, just being blown away by the dialogue. Because it’s dialogue that if you told me David Mamet wrote Fences or that Aaron Sorkin wrote Fences, I’d believe it. Just the quickness and the weightiness and the sophistication and the comedy and drama of the dialogue in that show and how it just flows endlessly — amazes me!
And with Spike, just the way he has his own language. Like, you know, you’re watching a Spike Lee movie, because he uses phrases that no one else uses. And Do the Right Thing, it opened with Samuel L. Jackson playing the radio host, whose name is the most likely name: Mr. Señor Love Daddy. Like it’s just so specific. Like no one you’re never gonna see a Spielberg movie with Señor Love Daddy. So definitely their individuality and their dedication of being their own voices and not complying to any lesson definitely influences me.
POJ: What is a lesson or trait that took you a while to learn or one that you’re still working on to this day?
CEB: Two things… One that I’m still working on is blaming myself for rejections, cause you get a lot of them. I’m the kind of person who’s like, “oh, did I do something in my life, nd this is the universe’s way of punishing me for some decision that I made at 15?” So that’s something that I’ve slowly dealt with — being like, you’re gonna get rejected, it’s gonna happen, especially if you send yourself to someone who obviously has never done anything like what you’re trying to pitch at them.
I say there are two kinds of rejection letters I’ve gotten: 1) the thank you, but no thank you. I hope you’re writing finds a place someplace else. 2) And then there’s the simple “I’m gonna pass on this” letters or emails. And I definitely prefer the thank you, but no thank you. They’re a little bit nicer, even though I know it’s a system that they just send out the emails. But the “I’ll pass” hits me a little bit different. I haven’t really gotten personal ones with rejection letters, but I’m slowly learning how to take those and not blame myself and just accept that.
There are other people out here trying to do what you’re trying to do, and there’s other people that are fit to do it at these places. You just gotta find your place. And it goes back to that whole — you send a hundred things out, one of them is gonna say yes. And even today, a rejection letter email I got was like, “you’re not right for us, but I forwarded this thing to someone else that I know at this place that might be interested in.” And so it’s always an upside to it. So that’s something I’ve tried to work on. Cause I, I know it’s gonna be a time when the emails stop coming, the rejections and the acceptances. And it’s during that time, that’s really gonna test me like, “okay, what are you gonna do with your time?”
You know, I think of one story that Tyler Perry always tells is that he was writing his first play and he would do production after production. He kept getting theaters to let him do it, but then no one would show up and no profit would be made. He ended up sleeping in his car, and he ended up quitting. He ended up saying I’m done. And then he got one more email or one more call saying “we wanna do this show.” And he had just gotten a new job. He had just gotten an apartment. He had gotten the life that most of us, most people would be content with. And he had to go to his job, and he had to quit his job that he had just been at for two weeks to go out and do this play for the fifth time. When, for the four other times it had been a complete flop, no one had showed up the venues, hadn’t made money. But this fifth time that he did his show, it completely sold out.
And so I think my life has prepared me for those times of “you can’t give up cause there’s another side.” “Even if you hit rock bottom, guess what? Now you have no place to go but up.” And so it’s just being able to say, I’m going to dedicate my life to doing something 24/7. I’m gonna throw a pebble in the water, and I might not be able to see the ripples, but while I do have this time, and while I am lucky enough to wake up, I’m gonna do everything in those 24 hours that I can. Even if no one remembers it, I’m gonna do it. And I’m gonna do it at the best of my ability, because you just never know.
I don’t agree with people when they say, “You have all the time in the world. You’re young.” We don’t know that. We have kids dying, whether it’s at the hands of police officers or whether it be at the hands of a virus that no one saw coming. We have kids dying. We have college students dying. We have people’s parents and siblings and uncles and cousins and grandparents passing away. So I’m never gonna take a day above ground for granted.
POJ: That journey that you keep talking about, some of it’s gonna go the way we want it, which is great, but a lot of it isn’t. And so it’s all about preparing yourself for that. And that takes me to the last question, what is some of the advice that’s helped you along that journey?
CEB: It’s the advice of people who, even when something’s not good, look at this and not criticizing me, but giving constructive criticism and giving notes. Takes me back to that friend of mine who directed [my film] Brother Survivor. Every time I sent him something, he can say two words and I know what it means. So if it’s good, he’ll say “that’s golden.” That’s all, he’ll say “that’s golden.” And I’ll know I can keep that, but the things that might not make too much sense for the story or something, he’ll just ask questions like, “Should you? Can you? Will you?” And I’ll know what that means. And most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time I’ll be like, yeah, that makes sense. And I’ll go and I’ll, I’ll fix it.
So definitely the advice that people who don’t sugarcoat things, that’s the best feedback and advice I’ve ever gotten as well as the people who take time out of their day, and don’t have to, but take the time out of their day and out of their lives and out of their schedule to say, “Okay, this is how you can do it. This is what it’s gonna be like. This is the things you might run into, et cetera, et cetera.” So, yeah, it’s just honesty. It’s the best advice I’ve gotten.
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~Patrick Oliver Jones
Host/Producer
