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Harry Davis: Interview with Playwright of “Push/Pull”—at Central Works

Harry Davis: Interview with Playwright of “Push/Pull”—at Central Works

February 23, 2025 Jenyth Jo

Reflections

by Jenyth Jo

I met Harry Davis, a member of Actors Equity, in the spring of 2023 in a play writing class at Berkeley Rep. Now Central Works has added his “Push/Pull” to its long list of World Premieres, and at 26, Harry is the youngest playwright they have produced.

Harry Davis: Interviewed on 21 February 2025, Peet’s Coffee, Orinda, CA

Jenyth:  Harry, is it more stressful to approach opening night as an actor or a playwright?
Harry: I think I get more stressed as a writer and I get more anxious as an actor. As an actor, I want to do a good job, and I don’t want to disappoint anybody. As a playwright, I don’t want to disappoint myself, mostly. Both are stressful in their own ways, but it’s definitely a relief not being the person up on stage for this world premiere.

Did you consider acting in your own play?
HD: We did discuss it and being in control of a character has an appeal. I considered one of the roles that I’d be typecast as because I like to write roles I’d want to play as an actor. That’s the most fun you can have as a writer—writing the things you want to perform. I talked to my UC Santa Barbara professor Risa Branin and she said, “No. You just need to have the experience of being a playwright in a rehearsal room.”  That’s been great.

Has letting go of your play and observing rehearsal been a difficult journey for you?
HD: I wanted Gary Graves to direct the play, and he’s very graciously allowed me to make suggestions. He’s been extremely generous with me as the playwright’s involvement is usually limited to rewrites.

Were you part of the audition process?
HD: I went to the Bay Area general auditions as an auditor, and I saw Andre Amarotico. I thought he was great. Gary described the play to people and asked if they knew any great young actors for these roles. In April of ’24, we did a reading of the play around the table with two actors, and the company directors, Jan Zvaifler and Gary. That served as both an audition for the play and an audition for Andre and Matt Kropschot. It went well. We were lucky.

As a professional actor, did the physicality of your acting experience influence the development of the play?
HD: I wanted this to be a very physical and visual play, since it’s about bodies and working out and it takes place in a gym. It’s a big part of my life and my brother is an amateur bodybuilder. A huge chunk of his life is spent in a gym lifting heavy things and putting them down.

I wrote parts of this play in our home garage gym. And when I go to the theater, the set looks just like it. Some of the props are mine. Being a writer and actor helps me have insight into what it’s like to say the things I’ve written… Sometimes I think, “I can’t believe I’m making somebody say this” and it’s a funny feeling. But it serves the greater purpose of the play.

You’ve dramatized a world unknown to most people who frequent theater. What do you hope your audience will notice?
HD: I like plays about specific communities, communities we all know of but don’t participate in. I knew I wanted my next play to be about a community I knew a lot about—bodybuilding and weightlifting. I’m interested in that kind of specificity. Who are the kinds of people who choose to be part of certain communities?

I do notice my friends who are the most unhappy with themselves are the ones who work out the most. I asked those using steroids: “Why do you use if you already have a girlfriend and don’t play sports?” And the only answer I get is, “I want to be bigger.”

Another thing I was interested in was the idea of self-improvement. There’s a lot of discussion in the bodybuilding community about how important genetics are if you want to be at a top level. Some seem to be motivated by a kind of self-hatred about who they are. Is it possible to change fundamentally, and what happens when you can’t?

Some things can’t be changed. I’ve seen posts on the internet where women say a 5’5” man is not a man. Shaming people for being bald and being short are socially acceptable right now and that’s effed up. That’s something I want to change. These things are out of people’s control.

Andre Amarotico & Matthew Kropschot in “Push/Pull” at Central Works. Photo: Robbie Sweeny

Change. This reminds me to ask you about the source of your new title, “Push/Pull.”
HD: This community is a lingo-heavy slang community, so I wanted the title to reflect that. “High Tes,” short for High Testosterone, didn’t work. People thought it was about getting stoned. I like “Push/Pull” because the words are said many times in the play, and they have metaphorical value. I like the slash because it indicates the idea of pushing and pulling at the same time, which you can’t really do. At the beginning, Clark is frozen by this idea of being pushed and pulled. Who’s pushing whom and who’s pulling?

Anything else you’d like to say about the play? Are the surprises still intact?
HD: Yes. Are you going to include a teaser? I think my goal in writing and what I secretly hope for when I go to see a play or movie is that I want something to make me cry and laugh and think. If I think about something I saw onstage on the car ride home, that’s a success. I know I did that, and it makes me happy. I tried to be as honest as I can be.

When I was in school, my professors told me to write a play that would change the world. I’d be like, that’s really difficult. I’d rather write a play than can change one person’s world or make one person feel less alone and feel seen. I hope this is a play that can do that.

Can both actors do pull-ups?
HD: Yes! And they practice after rehearsals.

What’s next for you? Are you auditioning now?
HD: I played Brian in “Antipodes” at the Marin Shakespeare Center in November. I was invited to audition for a part by someone who saw that show, but it had the exact same schedule as my play. I couldn’t do it. I am applying for graduate school, MFA programs in playwriting. No rejections yet, two interviews, and a lot of waiting to hear from the 12 schools.

I hope your play is a success.
HD: Thanks. I want to make more theater friends around here.

 

“Push/Pull” by Harry Davis, directed by Gary Graves, at Central Works, Berkeley. Info: centralworks.org – February 27 to March 30, 2025.

Cast: Andre Amarotico & Matthew Kropschot


#Interview, Plays, Reflections

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