Three Questions for Will Olsen, Playwright

Will Olsen is the author of Pastime, featured in the Original 10-Minute Plays by Student Playwrights as part of the BU Players 2014-15 season. We asked Will three questions.

A brief synopsis of Pastime by Will Olsen: Jack Drummond was once the face of Major League Baseball in Indianapolis, but after an encounter with a reporter, he lost it all. Ten years later, he is reunited with the reporter for a chance at redemption.

How did you first become interested in theatre?

I fell in love with theatre at summer camp. The other activities just didn't hold my interest. I sucked at archery, the sports all had rules, the nature lessons had facts, even arts and crafts had a set process you had to follow. Theatre was the only activity where I could just let my imagination run wild. My counselor, Mr. Dave, encouraged all of my crazy antics and it just snowballed from there. In elementary school, my friends and I wrote our own sketch comedy show and we would perform the sketches during recess. I obviously wasn't an athletic kid (as if that's changed...).

What inspired you to write this play?

John Rocker competed on last season of Survivor, and there was so much vitriol thrown at him in the Facebook group I'm a member of. They were calling him a bigot and all these other things, and they were so unwilling to give him a second chance. A lot of the other contestants from his season say that he's actually a really nice guy, but the fans are still unforgiving. That really annoys me. Some of my closest friends are the same people who bullied me in middle school, so my lived experiences have shown me that anyone can change. Plus, baseball is my favorite sport. There's just something magic about it.

If you were a fruit or vegetable, which one would you be?

Kale. Kale is the greatest vegetable in existence, and I always strive to be the greatest.

Will Olsen is a freshman Theatre Major with a Performance Emphasis and a five-time Survivor applicant. He also is the Assistant Op/Ed Editor for The Voice campus newspaper and volunteers with the LGBTQA Student Services office. When he's not writing, Will likes to beat all of his friends in Trivia Crack, daydream and stay up late watching Norm Macdonald's stand-up. He lives and breathes Boston sports.