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San Antonio proudly boasts being the hometown of gifted Dramatists Guild member William Mohammad Razavi. His life, on-going achievements, and continued selfless outreach to build theatre and grow playwrights so impact from behind the scenes that they define him as a beacon who outshines any spotlight we could put on him.

William is the Artistic Director of The Overtime Theater (theovertimetheater.org), the only theatre in San Antonio doing all original work for the stage with approximately 15 productions a year and several late night series and an Improv Troupe…all with loyal followings. William teaches Playwriting and Screenwriting at both St. Mary’s University and Our Lady of the Lake University. He works in the Classical Studies Department at Trinity University where he lectures on Numismatics. While William is charming, engaging, productive, and omniscient, the term most used in the city when his name comes up is, “Genius.”

William wrote his first play in the 1990s as a youngster at Trinity University. He went on to earn his MFA in playwriting from Brandeis and, although he can claim a huge canon of work in several genres, he’s written over 60 plays and been widely produced. I asked William what the focus of his life is right now.

WR: I’m not sure I have a singular focus. Being AD at the Overtime Theater gives me opportunity to develop local writers as well as my own work and to keep an eye out for interesting and unusual works by writers from across the country and even overseas. (William read over 900 plays that came across his desk last year.) I also work with the Southwest Association of Literary and Dramatic Artists (SWALDA). We’re creating a web series based on a play we produced at OT. Also, teaching gives me a chance to hone ideas. Taken together with the many personal writing projects I’m currently engaged in, there is some narrative that can be expressed about where I’m going with all this.

SR: Talk to me about San Antonio theatre.

WR: Unless resources are redirected towards the production of new work, the theatrical community in San Antonio will revert to a cargo cult where even the most “bold” of the local theaters will present highlights from Chicago and New York seasons from five years ago and the rest of the city will continue to present the greatest hits of 1955 thinking there’s nothing wrong. Part of the problem? Performers drift toward the well-known pieces and performers are driving lots of the enthusiasm in this community which in turn drives the decision making process. I don’t blame them for wanting to play iconic roles, but in a world of limited resources? That creates a situation where most of the resources go toward productions of old work and almost no resources are left in the community to make new work.

The economic and political leadership of the community needs to understand that if they want to have a vibrant arts culture they need to take stock of whether or not they want to be a cultural center that actually produces art instead of being just a location of reproduction or simply a market and venue for travelling professional productions of works originating from other places.
The challenge is the disheartening degree of territoriality that goes with fighting over limited resources and attention. This leads to a serious enthusiasm gap when it comes to supporting new work, new writers or even new work by established writers. It’s difficult to be in the position of referee balancing out the needs of the many while also trying to act as advocate for my own work.

SR: What play are you writing now?

WR: The Bronson Pinchot Civil War Cupcake Experience. It explores the problematic economics of the boutique cupcake shop craze along with the even more problematic politics of Civil War commemoration in the present. It’s also a weird homage to Perfect Strangers and the dynamics of mid 1980s sitcoms.

SR: Genius!

William R Razavi

srinear@dramatistsguild.com