“Let me learn about you. I write characters. I like to have an idea of who I am talking to.”

A.R. “Pete” Gurney‘s been writing over fifty years: plays,
three published novels, several television scripts, a few never produced movies and the librettos of two operas.
Known for his WASP- world social settings, he said:
 “The world they call WASP I wrote about has changed.
I think of them as people who eat and sit.”

His teaching at M.I.T. for twenty six years began with Greek, Judeo- Christian alternatives, literature and then playwriting. Making playwriting interesting and exciting for M.I.T. students was a challenge. Expertise in mathematics served them well in writing dorm plays. “They knew enough to know
they didn’t know.”

At Yale School of Drama he asked “Can I write a play?”
Yale taught writing rules: rising and falling action. He gathered wisdom: “Write issues and what you feel strongly about. Write with your eye on the audience. Sometimes, the most powerful characters you don’t introduce. Off stage they dictate the flow of the play. It’s an act of faith; you’ll find a good payoff. In film writing you need a false ending then another ten minutes,
for the real ending.”

On routine a.m. writing: “Once longhand now computer means
I write till the dog has to go out. It’s so much a habit,
if I don’t do it I feel restless.”

The audience took notes from one of America’s greatest playwrights.  All wished they had studied with him. His gracious and generous manner encouraged further questions.