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Aimee and I chat in mid-July, just after the District Fringe debut of their play This is a Play About God. Over coffee at La Colombe, we chat about different models of Jewish life, finding inspiration in unexpected conversations, taking social risks with friends, how Aimee thinks about God, and volleyball.
Samuel: What brought you to the DMV?
Aimee: I’m technically from Maryland. I was born in Bethesda, but I didn’t live here much. My mom worked for the State Department. We moved to Ukraine for three years, Belgium for four years, the US for three years, Israel for four years, Belgium again, and then Austria. I came back here for college, and I’ve stayed since.
Samuel: What’s keeping you here?
Aimee: Having gone to college at UMD, a lot of the theater community that I’ve built has been here. DC is just a really great regional theater town, so there are a lot of opportunities here. What keeps me here is that a lot of my friends and people I enjoy working with are here. I can’t stand to leave my friends.
Samuel: What does your Jewish community look like right now?
Aimee: I lived in many different places with many different opinions on Judaism growing up. Because I moved so much, a lot of my Jewish community came from family and planting roots wherever we were. I struggled a bit in college to find a space to hang out with other Jewish people and be in that community without it being my entire college experience. And then I met my friend Leah. We are very close friends. But also, part of what bonds us is being like: We’re going to go to this Jewish event together. It’s less scary to try and build that community when you have someone else to go to things with.
Since we graduated college, we’ve been branching out and exploring a lot of the different communities that you have in DC, going to events, meeting new people. And, I just moved in with a roommate who is also Jewish, so we’re going to start hosting Shabbat dinners.
Samuel: Who are you as a host?
Aimee: When I host, I am most stressed about the guest list. I have friends who come from a lot of different groups that sometimes don’t mesh. But I’ve found that the older I’ve gotten, the more they do mesh, which is nice. I stopped having birthday parties for a while because I thought my theater friends don’t mesh with my other friends because they’re a very different type of person…but I had a birthday party recently, and I invited people from very different parts of my life. Over time, once you understand yourself better, the people you surround yourself with just tend to mesh better. Friendships are more intentional as an adult. So I’m very intentional about a guest list.
And, stock up on ice.
Samuel: If you’re feeling really fulfilled in your community in 10 years, what does that community look like?
Aimee: There isn’t something I’m trying to emulate. Having tried a bunch of different synagogues and Jewish communities, I know what I like and what I don’t like. I would like a group of people that are very open-minded. I know that there are queer Jewish spaces in DC, but I have not found them – I would love a young, queer group of Jewish people.
Samuel: Let’s talk about your play, This is a Play About God, which just finished its run at District Fringe. How’d you get into writing, and why plays?
Aimee: I’ve always liked writing and theater. There’s something about writing plays…I would love to be someone who can write novels, and maybe I will one day. But there’s something about the amount of description that just isn’t for me. In theater, you can show some of that visually and focus on the impact of what it is that you’re writing, how it can make people feel. I most enjoy writing dialogue. I love a back-and-forth conversation that goes fast.
Samuel: What does your ideation process look like?
Aimee: It depends. The one for This is a Play About God is an interesting story. My other roommate, Alex, is an actor, and we have this thing we’ll do where we say a phrase and she’ll go: Play name. And then I put it in my phone. Alex was explaining how she had explained Waiting for Godot to someone, being like: It’s a play that’s kind of about God, but it’s not really about God, but it’s kind of about God! I thought it would be really fun to write a play called “This is a Play About God” but it’s not, but it kind of is. And Alex was like: It could be about a girls’ volleyball team! And then I wrote it.
Samuel: Having seen this play, it very much is about a girls’ volleyball team. But the title gave me something else to chew on while I watched the show, and I liked that.
Aimee: I like that when you first start watching, it’s like…what a strange title for this play! It doesn’t match up. But I think that dissonance is part of what gets people thinking, and eventually thinking it might not be such a strange title for the play after all. The title has shaped the way people have responded, and I’m really enjoying that.
Samuel: What is your conception of God?
Aimee: If I’m being honest, I’ve struggled with that a bit as an adult. For me, it’s in people and the way they interact with the world. That’s one concept of God. This other play I was reading the other day kept referring to God only as a man, and I just don’t think that that concrete thing speaks to me. I think the way people conduct themselves and the way they treat other people can come from godly places. For me, it’s about humanity – God is frequently what people need God to be.
I was talking to a friend about the play a couple months ago, and he asked how being Jewish played into the show. And I was like: It didn’t. But I don’t think I’d thought about that enough. As the run has gone on, I’ve thought more about how my own perspective on God and religion comes into it. Inherently, I think, your perspective on the world and life and religion will end up in everything that you write. So I was wrong – I didn’t think [being Jewish] played into it, but now I think that it did.
Samuel: A few quick ones before we end. What’s the next play?
Aimee: My favorite play I’ve ever seen is The Boys in the Band. Loosely drawing on that concept, I’m working on a play set in a sorority house where they play a game and that game leads to self-discovery and interpersonal discovery. And it’s gay. Like most things I write.
Samuel: Your new place is in Shaw. What do you love about Shaw?
Aimee: We really like Big Bear. And, I didn’t know Shaw was so close to NoMa. We’re a 20 minute walk from the metro. DC is big and also small. Everything is easier to get to than you think.
Samuel: What are you bad at?
Aimee: Lying to people. If I don’t have anything nice to say, I need to hold my tongue, which is hard when you see a lot of theater.
Samuel: You’re hosting Shabbat dinner and can bring any three people. Who are they?
Aimee: I’m bringing Leah. Can’t go to a Jewish event without her. I just saw Indecent at 1st Stage and would love to speak to Paula Vogel. She’s Jewish and queer and just writes awesome stuff. And third, Julie Benko, who did Guys and Dolls at Shakespeare Theatre Company. I would love to talk to her about Broadway and being a Jewish actress. And she was just so nice. It would be a great theater-filled dinner.
Samuel: Last one. Finish the sentence: When Jews of the DMV gather…
Aimee: We’re always meeting someone new.
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