As I was writing AMALGAMATION for Playwrights Horizons’ fourth annual ALMANAC Magazine, I unearthed some old, grainy photos of my eleven-year-old self perched atop a ladder as the presiding judge Yertle the Turtle in SEUSSICAL JR. and it suddenly dawned on me that I have spent well over half of my life devoted to the theater.

I quickly grew quite sentimental and wondered what George at eleven would think of George at twenty-six. I thought back to all of the incredible friendships and relationships in my life that have been birthed from my existence as a theatermaker; all of the ways in which this work has deeply shaped me not only as a friend, but as thinker, lover, and human, too.

Throughout the last two weeks of 2023, I sat down with fifteen people that I’ve met through the theater in an effort to start a time capsule, of sorts, for myself. I started with 2009, the first year I stepped foot onto a stage, and chose one person per year, working my way up to 2023, spending fifteen minutes with each of them via Zoom to ask them fifteen (varied) questions. We laughed. We cried. We sang. We looked back. We looked forward.

In this quest to preserve and track how this art form has impacted my growth, I ultimately came out wondering if I was all that dissimilar from my past selves after all. The same deep curiosity and intrigue I had at eleven remains and any growth or evolution I had excavated was easily traced back to someone; I realized I am merely a student and product of those around me, not only the fifteen people I spoke to, but countless other peers, collaborators, mentors, and friends I have met along the way, too.

I recorded each conversation in full, unsure how much I’d share of each (if they were shared at all), and at the end of every chat, I asked each interviewee to answer the question “What is your all-time favorite piece of theater, and why?” I was struck by how difficult the question was for some while answers came so easily to others.

AMALGAMATION outlines their answers and personal musings on them. Outlined below is more information on each participant, as well as their own musings on their favorites.

2009

Val Pascale (they/them) is a theatre kid turned social worker who loves to run.

Val and George backstage after a performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2014.