Wherein magic is a metaphor for the queer experience

The world premiere reading of Kairos Looney’s House of Telescopes is coming to our Week of Extraordinary Risk on Saturday, June 30, 5:30PM. In advance of the reading, we learned more from Kairos about their play, which is very much inspired by the making of our own creation stories and magic as a metaphor for the queer experience.

Learn more in our interview below and reserve your seat now for House Of Telescopes, June 30, 5:30PM, Jefferson Market Library (425 6th Ave, NYC).

Pipeline Theatre Company: What do you want us to know about your play?
Kairos Looney: This play is about the families and creation stories we make for ourselves to feel safe.

PTC: When and where did you decide to start writing this play?
KL: A few months after the election on a trip to New Hampshire.

PTC: What’s excites you most about this project?
KL: The magic. I love magic. I initially set out to write an impossible play wherein magic is a metaphor for the queer experience. I had grown accustomed to toning down images or stage directions to make my plays easier to produce. To combat that, I wanted to write a play that didn’t sacrifice metaphor for feasibility. I thank Pipeline PlayLab for encouraging me to do so. Every step of the way, Pipeline said Further.

PTC: In one sentence, tell us something strange that happens in your play.
KL: Three hundred wolves run through the playing space.

PTC: Are you working on anything else?
KL: I’m in the preliminary drafting stages of a new musical (which may involve fourth graders, toxic masculinity, and a pageant). I’m also currently working within Southern Rep’s 4D new play development cohort as a director.

PTC: What’s next for you?
KL: I will be workshopping House of Telescopes this autumn in Magic Time @ Judson.

About House of Telescopes

by Kairos Looney | directed by Bonnie Jean Gabel
Saturday, June 30, 5:30PM
Jefferson Market Library | 425 6th Ave, NYC
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An estranged witch in Minneapolis has buried herself in a historical opera she’s writing for lost trans-ancestors. Meanwhile, her mother accidentally conjures a homesick demon, her best friend is addicted to martyrdom, and her sister wants to fix everything yesterday.