I’m David Hilder, and what really excites me in the theater is genuine wit and intelligence. That doesn’t mean I’m looking to recreate Noël Coward and Philip Barry (though I love their writing), but it does mean I respond to writing with both muscle and élan. I believe strongly in earned sentiment, as opposed to sentimentality. I love the laugh of the unexpected line, and the unexpected line reading. My favorite works of theater offer rich detail, well-crafted stories, and characters I can believe, believe in, and root for.

I’m extremely comfortable writing comedy, but also enjoy crafting more serious pieces. I have a great ear for the music of a piece (whatever form it may take) – the rhythm, the flow, the emotional and linguistic carriage of scenes and their arc into a whole. My imagination is highly visual, so as I write a play I often see pictures, some of which are useful for collaborating with production teams, others of which help me clarify moments. It’s always helpful in terms of working with directors; often if I have a question about the physicality of a moment, the answer leads to greater insight into the meat of the play itself.

I believe in a rehearsal process that is filled with laughter and good spirits. Even if the piece is serious (perhaps especially if it is), I believe the path to getting the very best out of a team is to create a buoyant atmosphere of positivity and optimism. It’s about putting people in a position to succeed, and setting them free to do so themselves. While the director is the leader in the rehearsal room, I take seriously my own responsibility to create a healthy atmosphere to the best of my ability

I’m really excited by work that cannot be replicated on a screen of any kind – immediate, theatrical work like Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses or Theatre de Complicité’s stunning Mnemonic of several years back. I find, though, that in an effort to create that kind of work, many writers seem to be focusing on elliptical pieces that are more about a theme or an idea than they are about characters in situations dealing with the work of living. Certainly not everything has to be naturalistic – far from it. But I do worry that the prevailing aesthetic of a lot of new plays is long on brain but short on feeling. I want to be moved in the theater, to laughter, to tears – and to thought, too, but not at the expense of emotional vivacity.

And that’s me. I’m grateful you’ve taken the time to read this. Thanks so much.