Interview: Inspired by True Events, Ryan Spahn Makes His Playwriting Debut

As an actor, Ryan Spahn has been seen in Daniel’s Husband, Gloria, and Jane Anger, among many other off-Broadway plays. This summer, he’s making his playwriting debut with the Out of the Box Theatrics production of Inspired by True Events, a new drama that’s, well, loosely based on a murderous incident that occurred backstage at a local theater in California. Presented at 154 Christopher Street, the play is directed by Knud Adams in a most confronting way: inside the venue’s actual green room, with only 35 audience members each night.

For Spahn, it’s the opportunity to watch the theatrical process from another point of view — and he’s definitely inspired by these true events, too.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How was the first performance?
Uh, wild. I’ve never had a play produced before, so it was quite an experience.

Was the feeling different from a first performance as an actor?
It was very different. I have such an understanding and empathy for the actors when they’re doing their first shows. I was overly conscious of them and the nerves of that first audience, not, you know, “What are they doing with my play!?” We’re just shot out of a canon. The energy is so specific to a first performance.

I could also hear every director I’ve ever worked with saying, after first previews, things like “Just listen more” or “That was wonderful, but now we have to slow down.” Things that, when you hear them as an actor, you’re like “What are they talking about?” And I was like “Oh, yeah.”

How inspired by true events is Inspired by True Events?
I read a headline probably six years ago on some theater website that kind of blew my mind and made me think “How is this even humanly possible?” I wrote a play based on that headline, and I specifically never read about the actual incident, because I didn’t want — mainly out of respect for the people involved, but also logistically and legally — to have to honor what happened. So, it’s inspired on general premise alone, but not aside from that.

The play is set backstage at a theater, and this production is taking place in the green room of 154 Christopher Street. What does that aspect add to what you’ve written?
I knew the actors had a head start with rehearsal, simply by being in the space. A lot of times, you leave the rehearsal room and then go to into the theater and it’s another week of acclimating to what’s all new. We didn’t have to do that.

Knud warned me that a lot of writers, when you go into tech, see their play fall apart, because it’s the last day of rehearsal for the cast and the first day for the creatives, and it’s emotionally hard to see that. We didn’t have that situation. Because we were able to rehearse in there, what probably would have given me anxiety put my writer brain at ease.

What will you take from this experience into your next production as an actor?
My cast is like “Don’t turn into one of those writers who’s like, ‘Oh, actors’ and rolls their eyes.” But I get it when people say actors are crazy. I’m watching them rehearse, and then the minute the director starts giving a note, they drop all artifice, turn, and surrender their emotions, like they’re a child and this is a person with wise information. It’s such a funny 180, a desperate need to understand how to crack something.

It makes me laugh because I keep thinking “We don’t know yet; we’re just spit-balling with you.” That helped me realize that no one is holding the key, they’re just picking up on things that they’re seeing in collaboration with what you’re doing. It’s not like they’re holding the prize and you’re on a scavenger hunt to find it.

Also, actors will start tech, and for us, it’s our first audience. Or during the designer run-through, the director will often warn you “They’re working, so they’re not going to respond. Don’t take it personally.” I would do those runs with the cast, and we’d be like “Well, that stunk. They hated it.” But when you’re on the other side of the table, you’re thinking about how it looks, how it sounds, so many things that have nothing to do with the actors. I know that’s been drilled in my head when I’m performing, but it’s the first time I ever truly understood it. That will help so much next time when I do a designer run or step into tech. The crew and designers are out there working their asses off. They’re not there to applaud you for your work.

Is it more nerve-wracking than you expected to be in this position?
I’m sort of learning what my nerves are as they days go on. I don’t know what I don’t know about this. My dearest friend, Halley Feiffer, came last night. She’s a playwright and she’s been intimately involved with my ups and downs. Having people to talk to has helped. Having somebody who’s done it before you has kept me calmer. I also think Knud and I have a remarkable working chemistry. The show happened and he sent his notes out to the cast at the same time I was sending him notes, and when I read his, I would say 85 percent of them were almost identical. I think I really lucked into a very positive and stress-free experience…Beyond just putting a play on stage being stressful.