A Novel Approach

Theresa Rebeck has already had a remarkably eclectic writing career. She has penned over a dozen plays, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Omnium-Gatherum, the currently in-demand The Scene and the award-winning Mauritius; written for such acclaimed television series as Law & Order: Criminal Intent, NYPD Blue, and L.A. Law; and authored a provocatively-titled memoir, Free Fire Zone: A Playwright’s Adventure in the Creative Battlefields of Film, TV, and Theatre. This month, Rebeck adds novelist to her resume with the official publication of Three Girls and Their Brother (Shaye Areheart Books), an inside look into the life of three New York celebutantes.

“I always felt the pull of the majestic form of the novel,” says Rebeck. “But what really got me started thinking about doing one was in 2000, when the The New York Times called me a man-hater in their review of my play The Butterfly Collection — which I am most certainly not. It was such a devastating experience that my theater agent suggested it might be a good time to write a novel. I thought, ‘maybe you’re right, but that’s not what I want to hear from you,” she says.

Rebeck’s particular inspiration for the novel was an article in Vanity Fair about real-life celebutante Paris Hilton that mentioned she had brothers, a fact Rebeck was previously unaware of. “I was fascinated by this concept of the erasure of the teenage male,” says Rebeck, whose work often deals with gender issues. Her original plan was to have her heroines’ male sibling, Philip, be the novel’s sole narrator; but in the end, he and each of the sisters narrate a section for the book. “Around page 110, I realized there was no way to keep Philip in the center of the action for the whole book, since he wasn’t the center of the story. And ultimately, I wanted to humanize these girls, not objectify them, which worked better if they told their own story.”

The novel-writing process was an unusually long one, Rebeck admits. “I couldn’t figure out how to do the traditional third-person narrator. I tried, but it would always come out badly. I realized I had a strong tool kit for doing a first-person narrative, and I think one of the reasons I wrote my solo play Bad Dates — in addition to writing a great part for my muse, Julie White — was that I wanted the practice of writing a really long monologue. It took me about two years to write the first 50 pages, but then once I committed to the project, I wrote the next 300 pages in about a year. I do have to say I got very tired of having to describe things. I kept thinking to myself, ‘why can’t someone just start talking.'”

In her own way, Rebeck says she did copious research for the novel. “I did go to the gym and read every celebrity magazine on the rack — and I became totally addicted to Star and Life & Style,” she notes. “One day, I was having a conversation with a gym buddy about why Angelina was better for Brad than Jen, and I realized this stuff had become like crack for me,” she laughs.

Having spent close to five years to actually finish the book, Rebeck says she was nevertheless tempted to not even see it get published. “Yes, I thought about just sticking it in a drawer, because I knew nothing about book publishing,” she says. “Then I considered buying one of those books on how to write the proper cover letter, but I know those never work. One day, I met this woman at the gym who knew a big literary agent, and I sent it to her, and she actually got a bidding war going and the book sold in like five weeks.”

While Rebeck is now at work on a second novel (which she won’t talk much about), theater fans should know she hasn’t given up her primary vocation. Her newest play, The Understudy, will get its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer, under the direction of Scott Ellis, with her old pal White and Reg Rogers in the leads. “It’s in very sound shape, but I have to say, that every time I poke at it, something new comes out. I’ve never written a play that responds so well to rewriting,” she says.

The work is a comedy about what’s known in theater parlance as a put-in, which is when the understudy finally gets a chance to rehearse a play — in this case, a comedy by Franz Kafka. “I did a very short piece about an actor on stage for one of Playwrights Horizons’ benefits, and this play came out of that one,” she says. “We did a reading of it, and it was astonishing to watch Julie and Reg together. As fabulous as Julie was in The Little Dog Laughed (which earned White the Tony Award), I don’t think that part asked her to provide the kind of emotional availability she’s capable of. My work requires a deep commitment to emotion while hitting you hard with laughs. To watch actors careen between comedy and pathos is my favorite thing in the world, and I think audiences are relieved these days to see comedies with a dark center. It’s like I’m providing them a full meal.”

As for whether Three Girls and Their Brother might ever make it to the stage, Rebeck is skeptical. “A lot of people have talked to me about turning it into a movie or play — long before I was even ready to think about that,” she says. “But I think it could make a great 13-episode TV series like Entourage where they have new adventures every season.”