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Laylah Muran tells us why she has been so happy the past few weeks...

10/22/2013

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What most excites you about this production? 
Not that the show is technically a Halloween piece, but Halloween has always been my favorite holiday - and not just because I grew up in the Castro with the biggest celebration every year just outside my door. I really enjoy the juxtaposition of horror and comedy, because humor is such an intrinsic survival necessity and scaring ourselves is a very basic human mechanism for escape as well as processing "bad-stuff" in our lives and minds. I think that with Hope we really have something that dances the borders of both gracefully. I like Rod's work and am really happy that we have a full length of his to play with; having only done short pieces in Sheherezade previously. I've been gushing so much about Brady's directing talents lately I feel like I should start an official fan club.  The chemistry with everyone during the show is exciting and I think the audience will experiences that magic that happens when the cast is so well matched all around. Seeing all of those elements plus Quinn and Wes' designs come together has made me very happy these past few weeks.

This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself? 
Well, family legend has it that I saw dead people so-to-speak when I was a kid. I don't know that I believe in any of it, but I do know there are things I experienced that I can't explain by anything rational. I was, unfortunately around a lot of death and dying in my youth and that had to have had an effect on my perceptions. Or maybe it meant I was exposed to more opportunities to be touched by the otherworld than most people. Who knows?

A close friend swears he saw me floating above the bed in my sleep about a dozen years ago. I do know I can't sleep on my back or I wake up feeling like I've been crashed into by something or smashed into the bed. (The theme from Rod Serling's Twilight Zone is now stuck in my head, thank you ear-worm.)

What is the scariest movie or play you have seen? Why? 
I haven't seen any scary plays that I can think of. Silence of the Lambs gave me nightmares for years, but I think that falls into the psychological suspense category, not horror. A friend in high school dragged me to a Friday the 13th double feature and I remember getting so freaked out I went into the lobby and played Poll Position (the car-racing arcade game) until I had one of the highest scores. I just couldn't stand the tension of knowing what the characters didn't and being helpless to stop what was going to unfold. The violence, blood etc. didn't freak me out so much as the powerlessness against the monster. I hate being in the woods at night (25 years later). Aliens (the second one in the series) can still make me squeal with alarm for similar reasons, but I love every minute of it.

What do you hope audiences will take from this production?
I hope there will be a sense of fun for the season. But I also hope they will find the humanity of these characters and the awful circumstances that lead them to the fateful events of the play within the comedy. Familial loyalty, the horrors of what people are capable of, how little we really know about people around us, the nature of hopes and fears, are all things that add depth to Hope's Last Chance and I think will provide something more than just a light Halloween-season treat.

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Laylah has been involved in theatre and writing creative fiction since childhood. Laylah served on the Board of Directors for the Playwrights Center of San Francisco and has been the Producer for their annual benefit production of Sheherezade for the past three years. In addition to her theatrical endeavors, Laylah has worked for the last two decades in process improvement, project management, and program leadership in a number of different industries. She particularly enjoys bringing her creative and professional background together to help create an environment for dynamic theatre. She is currently working on the full-length, not-quite-one-woman showDa-Da Baby about her upbringing in absurdist theatre and the gay community.

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Kat Bushnell talks about her experience with ghosts and her role in Hope's Last Chance

10/20/2013

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Gabby in City of Angels SFSU 2008, photo by Claire Rice
What most excites you about this production?
The opportunity to showcase a bunch of different styles of comedy and juxtaposing the hilarity with real human moments. 
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As Angela in HOPE'S LAST CHANCE by Rod McFadden with Wesley Cayabyab. Photo by Jim Norrena.
This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself? 
My mom has told me that when we first moved into her recently passed sister's house in Sacramento, she came into my room and I was talking to my Aunt Mara. I don't remember this happening, because I was about 3 years old, but I do believe that children especially can sense a presence of the supernatural, and that I did encounter my Aunt that night. 

What is the greatest challenge you face with this show?
The balance of comedy to drama to straight up high stakes fear is really challenging to pull off, I think. Aside from having to memorize 3/4 of the play, I find that discovering the truth in the dramatic moments and balancing that with the comedic arguments written in has been especially fun to figure out. 

What have been some of your favorite previous roles (or productions you have been involved with)?
I had a great opportunity to play Stevie in Albee's The Goat or Who is Sylvia at SFSU when I was in brown bag theater, which is a performance class meant to replicate theater in repertory. I also really enjoyed originating the role of Hebe in Juno en Victoria with Wily West a few summers ago. You can't really go wrong when you're playing a goddess. 
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As the Goddess Hebe in JUNO EN VICTORIA by Stuart Bousel with Michelle Jasso. Photo by Bill Boice.
What do you hope audiences will take from this production?
I hope the audience will walk out of the theater with a smile, the play is really a comedy and I think we as a cast shine best when we are being ridiculous. 
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KAT BUSHNELL (ANGELA) is excited to perform in another original play with Wily West Productions.  Since the tender age of seven, Kat has been performing with community and workshop theaters in her hometown of Sacramento.  Pursuing a Drama degree from SFSU brought her to San Francisco, where she worked with Tony Award nominee Barbara Dameshek performing leading roles in Chess and City of Angels, and got a taste of the repertory theater experience in Brown Bag Theater (You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Goat or Who is Silvia). Since earning her Cum Laude degree in 2009, she has performed with SF TheaterPub (Jesus Christ Superstar, RENT, Devil of a Time, Pint Sized Plays) SF Olympians Festival (Juno En Victoria, Heracles & the Things He Killed, Die,OH!Nice!Us vs. Hestia), Cutting Ball Theater (Epicoene), Altarena Playhouse (RENT), No Nude Men Productions (Giant Bones), Thunderbird Theater Co. (The Scotland Company), SF Sketchfest (EMO! The Musical) and was last seen on the Wily West Stage in Juno en Victoria (Hebe) and The Cocktail Plays.  

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