In From Out of Town: 'The Quality of Life' Comes to Arena Stage

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AT A TIME when the divide between the left and right seems ever-deepening, Arena Stage produces a play about irreverent and liberal West Coasters who meet one weekend with their distant cousins, who are conservative Midwesterners. "The Quality of Life," written by playwright and TV scribe Jane Anderson, examines how these couples cope with intense personal loss and even find common ground. Originally debuting in two West Coast productions — in Los Angeles and San Francisco, both directed by Anderson — the play makes its East Coast premiere at Arena Stage under the direction of Lisa Peterson.

» EXPRESS: Your writing seems to center on very human issues and struggles. How much of your own personal experience do you bring into your work?
» ANDERSON: I try not to use anything directly biographical. I'd rather use my plots as a metaphor for issues I'm going through … or that upset me.

» EXPRESS: What inspired you to write this play?
» ANDERSON: The play was inspired by a conversation with a very, very good friend in a long, long, loving, intense marriage. When he found out that his wife had gotten cancer, he was prepared to die with her. We seem to support the idea of assisted suicide for people in agonizing pain, but what about exquisite emotional pain because of grief? That made me think about how people in different parts of the country or of different beliefs grieve in different ways.

» EXPRESS: Which regions do you mean?
» ANDERSON: I have great admiration for the Midwestern ethos. If you have a hardship … you just keep going. Being a coastal person and also an artist, I'm used to self-examination. The artist is so exquisitely sensitive. … I've come to believe that my artist sensitivity gets in the way of carrying on through hard times.

» EXPRESS: How do people of different political stripes or backgrounds find common ground when the issues are so personal?
» ANDERSON: In the case of my play, they're relatives. They feel an obligation to get along. That kind of helps. The journey is that they really come apart at the seams. I think that's what the country is doing. You feel that if you give a little, you have to give up everything you believe in. The point of my play is that we can learn from each other.

» EXPRESS: What kind of changes have you made to the script?
» ANDERSON: The San Francisco production really inspired me to take a hard look at the way I wrote the Christian character. They were laughing at him. They were cheap laughs. … The whole rewrite process has been to reconsider what I did with that character and really flesh him out.

» EXPRESS: Has the Arena cast shown you anything new about the characters?
» ANDERSON: It's been very valuable. The whole purpose of the Arena [production] has been to really work the play. Having a new cast and having another director has allowed me to step back and see what works and what doesn't. They're coming to the material absolutely fresh. They ask all the hard questions.

» EXPRESS: Is Broadway the next step?
» ANDERSON: That's always the hope, isn't it? Right now, I'm interested in making this production as excellent as possible. I'm fascinated with your town. I just can't wait to see what the audience in your city does with it.

» Arena Stage in Crystal City, 1800 S. Bell St., Arlington; through Oct. 18, $25-$66; 202-488-3300. (Crystal City)

Written by Express contributor Erin Trompeter
Photo by Scott Suchman