“Adam Minus Josh” is a new play by playwright Dan Fingerman that explores the chaotic dating scene, modern-day dependence on social media, gay culture, and more. The comedy sheds light on how a person can find themselves after a breakup and how their friends and family can help them navigate through the process.
Dan Fingerman discussed this play, ts inspirations, and the theater industry via an exclusive interview on October 23, 2018.
Plays, characters, and scenes
Meagan Meehan (MM): How did you discover your love for theater and how did you break into the NYC industry?
Dan Fingerman (DF): I always loved theater as a kid but didn’t really have many outlets for that interest, I couldn’t dance or sing or act. I moved to New York after college and saw everything I could while working in a different field. One night I saw a play that purported to be about the gay American experience and on the subway home I told a friend all the ways I thought the show had erred and sketched out how it should have been written. She said “I’d see that play,” so I wrote it and submitted it to a few festivals and now here we are!
MM: How did you come up with the idea for the play “Adam Minus Josh”?
DF: After “Boys of a Certain Age” was up I was thinking about what was next and complaining to a friend in a long-term relationship about my dating life, and he said “I’d be so lost if I was suddenly single”, and I thought “what would that look like?” and “Adam Minus Josh” was born.
MM: What do you most admire about the characters and what is most appealing about the plot?
DF: It’s a show about the aftermath of a break-up, which could be a recipe for a tearjerker, but it’s not. It’s a very funny show filled with extremely zany characters. All of the characters are living their truths, even if that’s weird or if their interests are esoteric.
I most admire that they are not embarrassed or shameful about how they feel or what they are interested in.
MM: What is your favorite scene in “Adam Minus Josh” and why?
DF: I don’t want to spoil too much about this, but there’s a scene in which Adam gets dragged to a “masc for masc” party, and it’s one of the strangest scenes I’ve ever written, but also one of the funniest.
I touched on gender identity and the disagreements in the gay community about masculinity and femininity in Boys, but that was a bit more abstract and academic. This is that debate come alive and it’s hysterical.
The cast, audiences, and future projects
MM: How did you get the props, costumes, and cast together?
DF: We hired Dennis Corsi to direct, and he’s put together an amazingly talented team of designers who are all out there getting this together and creating Adam’s world.
MM: What do you hope audiences will remember most about this play?
DF: I hope that people laugh and smile. There are so much divisiveness and negativity in the world right now, and I hope people can take an evening (or afternoon) off from Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity and just have fun.
MM: How many other theatrical projects have you worked on in the past?
DF: This is my fourth play that’s been up in New York.
MM: What are you planning to start working on in the future and where do you hope your career goes from here?
DF: I am working on two future projects for 2019. One is about a friendship between two gay men over the span of a number of years so it's closer in tone and subject matter to my past work. The other is more of a departure from my work; it's my first one-man show which will discuss religious identity and attitudes and preconceived notions about other religions from the viewpoint of a secular Jew.
I am also in preliminary discussions with a company about bringing a previous work to a theater outside of New York which would be a first for me.
I don’t spend a ton of time thinking about my career. I love writing plays, I love seeing them up on their feet and I plan to keep doing that. If that leads to other mediums like film or television, that would be wonderful; but if it doesn’t I’m having the time of my life sharing these characters and stories with people.
