Today we’d like to introduce you to Hank Kimmel.
Hi Hank, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I did not find my way to theatre until I moved to NYC after college. A misunderstanding led me to become a playwright. What I thought was an opportunity to be a joke writer turned out to be a job developing skits for cabaret-type theatre performances. When I was introduced to the team, the artistic director said “This is Hank. He’s a playwright.” She had such a strong personality that I didn’t want to defy her. I figured if she said I was a playwright, then I guess I was a playwright. Over a two-year period, I immersed myself in writing, acting, sound design, set building, promotion and stage managing. The writing appealed most to me, especially the opportunity to see my work developed and produced so quickly. After one particularly delightful performance of my first play (Double Fault), I vowed to commit my life to re-capturing that joyful moment. I’m still on that perpetual quest, and am grateful to have found many wonderful pockets of opportunity along the way.
As a theatre maker, I consider myself to be primarily a playwright, dramaturg and advocate. Most notably, I am a founding member of Working Title Playwrights, an Atlanta-based theatre company dedicated to the development of playwrights and new plays — www.workingtitleplaywrights.
As a playwright, I’ve written scores of plays — mostly about former athletes, distressed lawyers, overwhelmed parents, accidental lovers and religious strays. I sometimes give myself quirky assignments such as writing a 6-word play (six words of dialogue) every day for a year. (I now have a collection of 365 short plays looking for publication. I welcome suggestions!). I also just finished a commissioned version of Alice in Wonderland that combines elements of Monty Python, the Marx Brothers and Gloria Steinem.Most recently, my play End Of Summer was published by Smith & Kraus as one of the Best 10-Minute Plays of 2022. Many of my plays can be found on my profile page at the New Play Exchange https://newplayexchange.org/
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
While I’m not sure I could say it’s been a smooth road, I can definitely say it’s been a joyfully non-linear one. In order to sustain myself as an artist, I’ve had a curious litany of jobs and professions that have inspired many of my plays. In chronological order, these professions include the following – plus the correspondent plays they inspired::
* Political canvasser (Crossing the Threshold to the Moon)
* Caterer (Better Dead Than Alive)
* Newspaper editor and copy editor (Reporting 1-0-1)
* Magazine publisher (Strangeness on the Train)
* Sports reporter (Redemption of a Football Widow and Hope for the Jets Fan)
* Tennis Pro (The Day I Was Supposed to Play Tennis with Samuel Beckett)
* Manager of a small real estate firm (Divided Among Themselves)
* Lawyer (Unbillable Hours and Mrs. Palsgraf’s Dream Team)
* Mediator (The Mediator Escapes From Hell and Confessions of a Hit Man)
Of these occupations, being a tennis pro and mediator have been the most sustaining. (I did enjoy a wonderful stint as the staff attorney and executive director of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts.). For the past 20-plus years as a mediator, I’ve helped settle more than 4,000 legal disputes. I find many parallels between being a mediator and playwright as both involve storytelling, empathy, conflict resolution and the exploration of new worlds.
More personally, I was strongly jarred by seeing my parents become fatally ill before I was 21. Both were amazingly loyal and devoted to me and my sister, and I try to honor them every day by living my life passionately and fully, understanding that mortality creates the need to live with a sense of urgency. I have also been fortunate to have a supportive step-mother Norma (a former reporter for The New York Times) and wife Barbara (a children’s book writer and playwright herself), who have both given me the tools, motivation and encouragement to continue forth.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Considering that we live on a planet that’s six billion years old (give or take a few years), the circumstances for being here right now are unfathomably crazy to me, and I count my blessings every night when I take late-night walks in pursuit of the moon. I also consider myself lucky that before the turn of the 20th century, my grandparents escaped a Russian pogrom to settle in the United States. The fact that my father was a surprise 4th child to parents who were in their 40s at a time when it was considered old to have children in their 30s further makes me appreciate the randomness of living at this moment. In sum, I have gotten so much from those who have come before me that I consider it essential to try to give something back to those who exist with me now. I find being involved in theatre is an intriguing way to express and embody that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hankkimmel.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hank.kimmel
- Other: New Play exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/2311/hank-kimmel
Image Credits
For main one: Georgia Kimmel Others: Barbara Kimmel
