Monday, March 23, 2015

Three Questions for Bry Kifolo, Playwright

Bry Kifolo is the author of The Compliment, featured in the Original 10-Minute Plays by Student Playwrights as part of the BU Players 2014-15 season. We asked Bry three questions.
A brief synopsis of The Compliment by Bry Kifolo: Best friends Erin and Drew are spending the night together unfortunately going over Erin's Shakespearean homework. Drew's efforts to calm Erin down are thwarted and the two fall into a lengthy poetic discussion about how to really compliment someone on who they are as a human being.
How did you first become interested in theatre?
I think the first time I ever started to think about theatre was the summer after 5th grade. I had always loved singing and putting on little skits when I was young but it wasn't until I watched Phantom of the Opera ​for the first time on a vacation and did I really get theatre was a thing. I was hooked and completely fascinated by the fact that someone could don a costume and be a completely different character and do all these wonderful things on stage. From just one movie, my passion really took off. 

What inspired you to write this play?
My inspiration for The Compliment came out of someone calling me "hot" at work. I know it sounds pretty silly but it TICKED me off to no end. I get it, the person didn't really know me and they were just pointlessly flirting, but come on. Who wants to be called hot? I ended up taking this anger out on my computer later that night, typing out how I really wanted to be complimented, and the play evolved from there. I think there's so much to be said in how you compliment someone, and how to make those words really mean something. Appearances don't last, but personality does. It's much more heartfelt to compliment who someone is, not just how they look. 

If you were a fruit or vegetable, which one would you be? Why?
If I was a fruit I would be raspberry (berries count, right?) because they may look small and cute but they might actually be really bitter on the inside. You never know! 

Bry Kifolo is a junior-ish student here at Bloomsburg University. She has recently been in the productions of Macbeth  and Roadkill Confidential​ here at Bloomsburg with BU Players. The Compliment is the first piece she has written to be performed.

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