Each semester, we have the honor of profiling some of the incredible professional artists involved in our TDM productions. Our next artist spotlight this spring shines on Jerry Lieblich! Jerry is the playwright and director for our spring TDM production of The Barbarians. Check out more of Jerry’s work at www.thirdear.nyc
What inspires you as an artist and creative?
As a general rule, I try to follow my curiosity. Usually that's into territory that's somehow difficult but stimulating (right now I'm deep into a book on the philosophy of quantum physics, for example). Even if the exploration leads nowhere, there are worse things than spending one's days being curious.
What excites you about this production of The Barbarians?
This cast is doing such a phenomenal job. The text is by no means easy, and though they all expressed some trepidation at the start of rehearsals, by this point they've really figured out how to make it their own. They're coming in with ideas, and are co-creating the piece with me in the room. There's a kind of electricity to that way of working, and I'm so grateful and impressed with how deeply they've all shown up.
What has it been like collaborating with the team on this project?
It's been a total dream. It seems like we just spend all day trying to make each other laugh. But there's a rigor in the room that I find exhilarating - we have the patience to work out moments in their minute details, and there's a real magic to that kind of focus. I'm grateful that it's the kind of room where I can often say "I don't know what happens next," and everyone is ready to chip in their ideas of how to progress the scene. We're really working together, and that doesn't always happen.
What projects are you working on next?
I've got a lot of plates spinning at the moment. I'm starting to prepare for a production of The Barbarians in NYC next year, as well as a production of a solo show I wrote for the virtuosic performer David Greenspan. But this summer I'll be in Germany working on an opera libretto about a town on the brink of a revolution, and restaging a devised piece in fake Yiddish.
