INTERVIEW | maguire wilder and Maiya Pascouche, 4 girls the first letter e
Written by Emmie.
Loosely inspired by the Slenderman stabbing of 2014, 4 girls the first letter e is a coming-of-age story that follows Evie and her friends as they fall further and further into the fictional world of “The King”.
Ahead of its reading at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, we spoke with rising playwright maguire wilder and director Maiya Pascouche to find out more.
To begin with, can you introduce yourself and let us know what your journey was getting into theatre?
Hello! I’m maguire wilder, the playwright of 4 girls the first letter e. It’s always been theatre for me. I think there’s something really special about a community of strangers and friends gathering to breathe and speak and sing and feel together. I came to theatre really young but didn’t start writing until I was about 18 or 19. I was studying drama at NYU Tisch and honestly thought I was going to be a director until I found playwriting. I’ve tried other mediums, and they’re great, but there’s something about working on a play that makes me feel a little more connected to my truest self.
Hello! I’m Maiya Pascouche, the director of 4 girls the first letter e. Same here, theatre has always been it for me. I started as an actor studying drama at NYU Tisch. After years of forming a richly emotional connection to plays through interrogation of text, I wanted to discover how text lives in tandem with and through the lenses of multiple artistic mediums and transitioned to directing. I learned that I feel my proudest when leading a room, holding space for fellow artists and their bold stories. I live for the rush of getting on our feet and building a world together! The light behind a playwright’s eyes as they hear their words out loud for the first time and the ferocity with which they edit their work relentlessly until freeze - lovingly calling out maguire here. The compassion that fills the room when everyone accepts that nothing is perfect and will never be and that’s why we make theater instead of film.
Before writing 4 girls the first letter e, have you written anything else?
Funny enough, 4 girls the first letter e was one of the first full length plays I ever really finished. It was 2020, and Maiya and I were working on a production that was shut down due to Covid-19. It’s been rewritten quite a bit, but this play is like an old friend to me. I’ve written a lot since then, but 4 girls still feels like who I am and who I want to be as a writer and a human. Some of my other plays include In Company With: a racing ballet, The Things We Pull Up (out of the ground) or at night by the river in the daytime (which I believe you can find an excerpt of online if you look hard enough), RaTs: Subway Songs and Stories, and The Birthday Cake Play. I’m currently writing a novel and a new musical with Maiya (coming to New York in November!), so there is also definitely more on the way!
What influences your writing?
I think, like most writers, I’m influenced by whoever I’m reading and whoever I’ve read. Reading someone else’s really beautiful or jarring sentence is usually what lets me keep writing when I feel stuck. It reminds me of what I’m chasing. I’m also a very obsessive person, so whatever is exciting me or fascinating me intellectually is probably what I’m going to write about.
What are the challenges of writing a new play that maybe people don’t realise?
For me, theatre is about community and the act of translation from page to director/designer to actor to audience. That can’t happen in a room alone. It takes a lot of forgiveness, both for yourself and the capacity of written language. Theatre is ultimately a medium that needs to be seen and heard. As a writer, you’re looking for the best you can do, the fullest emotional life you can draw from the world and the characters within it. Once you’re at that point, you have to let the work filter through other peoples’ brains before your audience finds it, which is different from other mediums of writing. I find it very freeing that my work is merely one part of a much larger puzzle, but it can be scary to let other people in when you care about a piece of text as much as you have to. Also, typing is hard.
So 4 girls the first letter e is a new play, can you tell us a little bit about it?
We like to keep the suspense, so here’s a little bit more info without giving too much away: Loosely inspired by the Slenderman stabbing of 2014, 4 girls is a coming-of-age story that follows Evie and her friends as they fall further and further into the fictional world of "The King." When the line between reality and game play starts to blur, how far will they go to save themselves from each other and the world around them? This play explores friendship in the face of violence. It asks: How does our trauma dictate our actions? How are young girls being taught to grow up? Who should we actually be afraid of?
For those wondering whether this play will be for them, what type of audience will it appeal to?
This play was written for and about anyone who’s ever been a young girl or cares for young girls. We’re interested in stories that are big and impossible and an audience who is willing to meet us there. We’re interested in building a theatrical space that juxtaposes safety with discomfort. This play is for people who want to ask big questions, to hold multiple realities at once. This play would also be great for true crime lovers, horror movie fans, or anyone who got a little too into Slenderman in the 2010s!
What do you hope for the future for this play after your run in London or do you already have a plan?
We hope to build a community of friends and colleagues here in London. This is our first production out of New York and we’re just so honored and excited to be making work with such an amazing team. Of course we’d love to see this show picked up and taken to the National or the Royal Court or the Almeida, but next step is a full production!
Where can people come and see the show and find further information?
A staged reading of 4 girls the first letter e is on this weekend (the 9-11th of September) at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre HUB space. You can find pay what you can tickets at our Eventbrite or email us at 4girlsthefirstlettere@gmail.com. If you can’t make it, we also have on-demand tickets for purchase for a recorded version of the reading.
