Interview: Domenica Feraud Talks About Grief, Eating Disorders, and Her New Play Someone Spectacular

Domenica Feraud is a multi-talented writer and actor who tackles challenging topics with honesty and integrity. Her latest play — the heartwarming, touching, and often funny someone spectacular — addresses grief in a group counseling setting. It’s now running at the Pershing Square Signature Center through September 7.

TheaterMania recently talked to Feraud about her theater background, what inspired her latest play, and who she hopes will see it.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How did you get interested in theater?

I always wanted to be in theater since I was very young. I was just one of those kids who came out very obsessed. I would watch Annie constantly, and Mary Poppins. That really solidified when I was 12 and I went to see the Michael Grandage-directed production of Guys and Dolls [in London] with Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge, Ewan McGregor, and Jenna Russell, a really great cast. It was one of those things that made me go, OK, I wanna be a part of it. And that never really changed for me.

How did you become a playwright?

I thought if I want to be in theater, it’ll be as a performer. I went to the Stella Adler Studio and writing kind of happened by accident. I was very lucky to have Helen Shaw as a teacher when I was a freshman and a sophomore. At the time, I had issues with food. That was a big thing that started for me in my late adolescence and early adulthood. I would go to the theater often and I noticed that there were no plays that really dealt with eating disorders, which was surprising to me considering how prevalent they are. So I started writing. My first play was very much just out of frustration and a cathartic exercise for me of, OK, well, let me write a scene from my own life. And then from there it kind of took off.

Did your parents introduce you to theater?

Both my parents were born and raised in Ecuador. They moved here when my mother was 20, my father was 24 and they’d just gotten married. They went to the theater constantly. My mom took me to see Bernadette Peters in Gypsy when I was 9, which I’m so grateful for, and it ended with me really taking them to see everything. Eventually the student became the teacher.

Who are the mentors in your life?

The most important person for me is definitely Paige Evans. She’s my dramaturge on [someone spectacular] and is producing the show with me. I met Paige in 2017 when I had just completed an internship that I wrote an essay about it, and I was sort of feeling very disillusioned with theater. Paige read my play, Rinse and Repeat, and she was so supportive. Labyrinth did a reading up in the Bronx and she came on a Friday afternoon in the middle of the workday.  Her reaction was, “You’re a really good writer and I think that you should stay with this.” That really stayed with me and then we got a lot closer after my mother died.

Was it cathartic for you to write someone spectacular after your mother’s passing? 

Paige had two very sudden personal losses at the beginning of last year. We went to see a musical to try and have fun at the theater, and we were just talking about how commonplace grief is and how there aren’t as many plays that grapple with it as one would think. That conversation really stayed with me, and then my dad and I saw a play that was about grief and I could tell how much it hurt him. I think he went to it hoping it would bring us closer, and it actually was very presentational. My dad felt that grief is about relationships. It’s the connection between the people. I could tell how badly he wanted something that would resonate. So that really stayed with me.

I had a bunch of other things that I was supposed to be working on and yet these characters were just starting to talk in my head and they just had to happen. One day I was writing and I was sobbing and listening to Moulin Rouge, a movie my mom and I loved. As I was writing, my dad said, “Sweetie, maybe it’s too soon. Maybe you should do this later.” And I said, “No, I need to write this.” Two of the characters are inspired by her.

That’s such an interesting way to think about it. It’s like you channeled her in a way. What a gift that you had such a close relationship with your mom. Not everybody does.

I also thought it was interesting to explore different perspectives on grief [in the play]. Eight months before my mother died, her mother died. I saw firsthand how much it affected her to be grieving someone that she kind of also resented. I also have a cousin who is like a brother in some ways. He lived with us for many years and was like another son to my mom. When she died, none of his work colleagues said anything. So I thought about that perspective of what if you have someone in the group who’s there mourning someone who’s not their mom or their sister or their child or their spouse. I really did want to show the different perspectives of grief and how everyone copes so differently.

Who do you hope sees someone spectacular?

It’s such a great question because I’ve been thinking about this just watching audiences react in different ways. I think it’s accessible for everyone. It’s very funny, which I wasn’t even really trying to do by design. There is a real humor and rhythm. The cast is so fantastic and dynamic, and our director, Tatiana Pandiani, has staged this in such a great way. I hope that anyone who could come see the show will enjoy how great the cast is or the humor or some of the pop culture references. There’s also a mystery at the heart of the play. I hope it speaks to those who have lost someone or are coming to terms with the fact that they might lose someone.

What would you say to the younger version of you?

Don’t change anything about the way you eat, please just don’t think about food any differently than you do. Being skinny is not worth what you think it is. Let’s fix that. I would also tell that girl to love herself the way her parents love her. And to just know that no matter how awful things get, it’s OK to sit in that, it’s OK to be upset. Feel your feelings. Your life is unfolding the way your life is meant to unfold. Have faith in that — and be nicer to Mom.