Hannah Weisz in conversation with Theresa Buchheister
This week I got to interview Hannah Weisz (any pronouns)! Hannah is a multi-talented artist entering her 2nd year at NYU this fall. I met Hannah when they did a “Creepy Double Bill” in Brick Aux in 2023. Her piece was called You are Cordially Invited to Elika Strauss’ Birthday Celebration. She was in high school at the time and collaborated with Foreshadow Puppetry to do a very weird and wonderful week of shows, and then they asked to intern for their final semester of high school at The Brick! Hannah was instrumental in making one of the zaniest months ever of ?!:New Works happen, as well as working on archival and marketing projects. Find out what Hannah has been up to, what is in their near and distant futures and what inspires her in this Staff Picks Soapbox interview!
Theresa Buchheister:
Hi Hannah! First and foremost, I always like to start with an “introduction in your own words”. Who the hell are you? What do you want people to think about you as they hear the rest of this interview?
Hannah Weisz:
Hi, Hello! I'm Hannah Weisz and I referred to myself as a theater-maker earlier today, and we agreed it kind of sounded very oat-milk-pronouns-barista-Bushwick, but honestly, I don't think I'm beating the allegations of that general energy, so I guess whatever comes to your mind when I say those words. I'm kind of that. I am from New Jersey, and I go to school in New York. I write, I perform in and out of drag. I produce theater, film and other things.
Performing Three Course Meal at That Show. photo: Owen Burnham
TB:
Awesome. That's a great, sort of very specific and yet very open definition of who you are. Which leads to my 1st question! You are definitely what some people in the TCG realm of theater would describe as a multi hyphenate. How so? I'll list the things off that I know about for the reading audience: theater (writing, directing, performing, producing, often sort of designing), drag performance, art, film, music, intimacy coordination, and soon the art of criticism. How did you begin doing so many things?! What was the genesis of being such a multi hyphenate?
HW:
Oftentimes there wasn't anyone around who was doing the thing that needed to be done. So I just had to do it myself if I wanted the project to exist, and then sometimes, like for sound and lighting design, I was like - “Thank God, there are other people now who I know and love, who can do this instead.” But other things like makeup and directing… I've really enjoyed those, and I'm so glad that I was put in those situations, because now I choose to do it for fun.
TB:
I'm just gonna say out loud, for the record, that I was nodding emphatically during that. So through this wild necessity of - If you want it to exist, you have to do it yourself - there are all these component parts. What things have sort of stuck with you? And which things are totally not for you? You touched on it, but I would love to hear more.
HW:
Yeah to elaborate on the things I referenced, sound and lighting design require a pattern of thinking that takes me right back to my high school physics class, like just crying over that homework. It's just, there's something very mathematical and formulaic about it, not necessarily monotonous… I feel like there's always something new to do and learn, of course. But those two areas, it’s not how my brain works. So I love watching it, and I love when other people do it. In the case of directing, the first time was definitely a necessity situation. I had a director, and he decided within a few days that he was more interested in acting for somebody else's project. (This was all in a devised theater class.) And so I was like - “Oh, I guess I'm going to be facilitating this.” And then I did, and I loved it. It was very fun. I kept in touch with those actors, even though I have not directed much since then. But the vibe when it is 4 actors or less is really fun.
TB:
Sweet. When it comes to projects where you're a writer, for example, do you feel like you write and then give the writing over to the director? Or are you more collaborative with the director and the actors and the other people in the room?
HW:
Well, for the most recent project that I am writing, this short film Soap Gene, I am (doing that). I do actually have another role besides writer, as a co-producer. But that's really just a lot of like sending emails and logistics kind of things, creatively. I've definitely felt like, I want Ali, our director, to take as much control as she wants, and then say - “What do you want? Do you want some more of that? Do you want some more control?” Because I definitely feel like I want to hand the vision off to whoever's taking it next.
TB:
Sort of like a relay race, a little bit.
HW:
I was JUST thinking - passing the baton!
TB:
Ha! Reading your mind! Interestingly, my next line of questioning is related to the film project. You seem to have a little bit of a horror lens on everything you do, evidenced by Soap Gene, amongst other projects of yours I have experienced. I'm curious where that comes from, and if you find that is your lens on everything, including your music and other things? Or is it more about when you're doing theatrical, filmic stuff that you have that lens?
HW:
I think my love for creating horror definitely started in live performance.
I honestly have not been much of a horror movie person… like I enjoy it. But I have some friends who are cult followers of certain movies, and that's never really been something I was drawn to. It really started in theater, especially when it got real experimental and just being able to create a really unique sensation in the audience where it's this combination of actions and light and sound that can create this emotion in you, like nothing else. This is my first time writing for film. I've done other roles. I've acted and done special effects makeup. But this is my first time writing for film. And I'm definitely learning how different it is! But starting out, I knew that this story would kind of only work logistically as a film, so I am doing my horror film research now.
photo: Levi Langley
TB:
Do you feel like there are influences, stylistically, as you're thinking about this one, whether horror or not, when you see it in your mind? Is there anything that you think it's in the same family as.
HW:
Well, the whole script was definitely pretty directly inspired by Jacqueline Novak's stand-up special, which certainly on the surface, is pretty much different in every way, in that it's a stand-up special and and not, you know, a narrative short film. But just the themes that she was talking about, and her really mind blowing (to me) cadence, and the way that metaphors just kind of explode out of her in a both awe-inspiring and yet very easily understandable ways. I think a lot of those qualities are what I wanted to capture in this. I was watching it with my partner, and she started talking about bringing an authentic spirit of play to the balls, and I paused it, and I said - “I need to write something right now” - and then I did.
TB:
I love it when something can just motivate that directly, you know? Especially something that's in such a different format. Like, I've been talking to Jeff Jones about short stories, recently. I've been finding a lot of inspiration in short stories because of the ability to really play out a metaphor in a way that sometimes in theater you don't. You don't get the narration. You don't get the sort of inner life as much. I mean, you get it, but it's like inside of a person onstage, and in order for the audience to receive it, it sort of has to be shared in this literal way. But in a short story it's laid out for you to digest and choose whether or not you trust it. And stand-up, I think, is so verbose. It's so much more verbose than any of the performance stuff that I've seen you do, so it's interesting to be inspired by something so wordy.
HW:
Yeah, yeah, it was. I find myself watching a lot of stand-up and long form improv, which I think are like the two art forms where I don't think I would do either of them for under $100,000, so I don't know why I am so drawn to watching it. But there must be some sort of subconscious compatibility there, because it's certainly not a conscious one in terms of creation. But whatever it's doing, I'm enjoying consuming it, for sure.
TB:
It could be another gene like the cilantro gene, that we both have, because literally on Monday night of this week I was talking to some friends about stand-up, and how it’s one of the things
that I miss most in Kansas. There's not a lot of stand-up here, and it was the easiest and most enjoyable thing for me to go see in New York, because I have no desire to do it. Never will.
HW:
Exactly. Yeah.
TB:
And there's such a freedom to that. And it's almost like maybe that's the thing that allows your brain to be open to inspiration because you're not asking - “How would I do this?”
HW:
Wait. This is such a therapeutic breakthrough for me right now. Wait. That's like a hundred percent. Thank you. I totally didn't put that together. That’s crazy. I love it.
TB:
Isn't that wild?
HW:
Yeah.
TB:
Especially coming from a person like you, who does all these different things… And like, I also do all of these different things. So it's not like we are one-lane kinds of people, but there's certain lanes where I know - That's definitely not my lane. Though, you know, there aren't that many. I'll try almost anything. I think you'll try almost anything.
HW:
Stand-up and improv.
TB:
I love watching them! Part of that same stand-up conversation was recognizing that whenever I go to dance shows I'm like - “I should get fit. I should dance.” I feel inspired, but I also feel like I want to do the thing I just saw and then that sends me on a whole different path, you know? Even if it is delusional, I feel like I could do that or want to do that.
…
Well, that was therapeutic for me, too. Look at that! Therapy through interview. Well, I'm really excited about the horror film. Can you tell people how they can support? I know you're looking for financial support, but also various kinds of help on the film.
HW:
Yeah, absolutely… so financial support would probably be just venmo-ing @pixiethetiger. That's our director. If you have venmo. If not, but you still want to support financially, talk to me and we'll figure it out. In terms of roles on cast and crew, if you are interested in auditioning or being
involved, email soapgenefilm@gmail.com. Auditions are September 13th. Check out their IG @soapgenefilm to get all the updates!
TB:
Awesome, awesome. That's great information. I put all sorts of links in these interviews so that people can go down rabbit holes and find information. SO! Next up, let's look backwards and then forwards a little bit - Your first year at NYU was super packed. Can you give me three highlights from your Freshman year?
HW:
Three highlights. Okay, three highlights. I'm gonna decide what they are first, st and then I'll elaborate because I need to remember what I'm doing. Okay.
TB:
Totally.
HW:
I'm gonna say, highlight number one was starting to make music, straight up. Music without like a musical theater angle or anything like that, just music for the first time. Okay, I'm deciding between things right now… Directing a play for the second time. That opened actually the night before I recorded my single. So that was very close together. And doing drag/adding the term performance artist to the persona of Mae B. Tomorrow. …
I'll call those the three.
Okay, should I…?
TB:
Yeah, elaborate.
Getting ready for day 2 after sleeping at the studio. photo: Madeline Coley
HW:
Okay.
TB:
1 - Music. 2 - Directing. 3 - Performance art with drag.
HW:
Yes, okay, music. So I started to have this inkling for like a few months before I started school. Maybe one day, I'll just put an EP out because I've been writing music for several years. But it just never really occurred to me to pursue it in the way that I'd pursued publishing my poetry or singing within other forms of live performance. And I got an ad for this recording company that that is structured in a way where you don't have to pay a huge amount upfront. And I was like -
“This is interesting. I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring, and we'll just see what happens.” And then they said yes, which was very scary. We worked out a plan for an album which ended up being 5 songs. But, I had already said to myself, and the world, I'm making an album. So now
I'm going to make the rest of the songs in New York. And it's just been very fun. I don't know a lot and there are a lot of very nice and smart people who are willing to join me as I figure it out. I'm definitely trying to stay as grassroots as I can and like lift up horizontally as much as I can.
Like (makes hand gestures) lifting up horizontally, lifting up from the horizontal. I don't know if my hand motions translate, if you're reading the transcript. You can imagine it. So yeah, it's been great. Oh, and in terms of horror influences (on music), not so far. But I've been writing more and more punk and harder songs, bringing in the Aztec death whistle to the studio. and we'll see where things go from. Lilac oil.
TB:
Awesome. I love it. I love it. It feels like such an interesting experiment to embark on while you're also experimenting with just being in your first year of school. It's really bold to do something that massive and different… like sort of just like... I'm also doing hand gestures that will not be interpreted very well in print. I'll describe them with words.
Veering. I was veering with my hand away from a sort of path that is sort of like that you're on. And then you're like, I'm gonna do this (veering gesture) and you really go hard on it, which is so cool.
HW:
Yeah, thank you. I think I witnessed enough of both really lovely and talented friends making a similar leap, and people who had twice the confidence and half the experience/skill, try it and enjoy it, that I was like, why not? Why not try.
TB:
Yeah! What's the worst that could happen?
HW:
Exactly.
TB:
And so then the next one was directing.
HW:
Yes, okay. Directing I directed a short play with 2 people called Loop.
Written by Oliver Morris. It was so so fast of a process, from auditioning to finding out that I was accepted as a director in this festival to opening night. I think the total was less than a month. So it was intense in terms of rehearsal space. We didn't really get many resources for that, so there would be times we got kicked out of the dance studio and into my bedroom. We continued rehearsing but in the end I think we ended up having time to spare, and I spent the first half of our final rehearsal bringing people's favorite Trader Joe's snacks. And we just talked about our experience with this play, our hopes for future projects, etc. And it was very nourishing, and I realized that I think I have more of an instinct for this than I feel like I do in the moment. Because, looking back, I think I was able to do more in less time than I even expected for myself.
TB:
That's really cool. You know, I think that this continues for your whole life when you're an artist… you can start to feel like you're not ready for something or you don't have the resources for something. But then, once you're in it and doing it, you're like - “Oh, my gosh. I'm capable.” You know? And even more than being capable, people had a good time. You made something cool that you're proud of. Of course, it doesn't always go that way. Sometimes you can be like - “Ooops. I failed.” But I'm really glad that this experience reinforced your trust in yourself when you're in a room, leading people.
HW:
Thank you. Yeah. Circumstance can definitely create capability and disaster.
TB:
Yeah, also it's sort of sending me on a little thought journey of all the rehearsal places where we've had to be like - “Well, we can't do it here anymore.”
There was one in this basement. It was a weird basement in my friend Joey's apartment, and we had to go through storm doors inside of his apartment, which I don't even know how that works, because storm doors are always outside, and you open them up outside and you crawl down the stairs… but they're inside his apartment. We went down to this terrifying basement, and we'd been rehearsing there for a while, and then one day, all like 15 of us went down there, and it just smelled like fresh vomit.
HW:
Oh no!
TB:
And we were like, we can't do this.
TB:
Yeah. We cannot be in here… like we are gagging as we're trying to figure out how these children explode in our play. And then we went to a park. I feel like I always end up going to a park when I get kicked out of a place or have to leave a place that I am rehearsing.
HW:
Wait. I've never thought of rehearsing outdoors. I should try that. That sounds really fun.
TB:
Yeah, in the nicer times of year it rules. I've done Union Square. I've done Tompkins Square. I've done Washington Square. I’ve done all the Squares. Yeah, the public space, whatever. You're not going to be the weirdest thing that anyone sees in New York. That's for sure. …
OK! And then the last one on your list of highlights from your first year at NYU was introducing performance art into the concept of your drag character.
HW:
Yes, so I started doing drag from a place of being a really big fan of it and researching it and interviewing drag performers, and a lot of those people that I was talking to and researching about started out in the ballroom and nightlife scene primarily. And so when I started doing drag and creating the persona I modeled after kind of the only type of drag I had consistent knowledge of. So I would be performing in a bar in and I would lip sync to a song, and it was very fun, but I felt like there was something that I could be getting out of drag that I hadn't found yet. And then I think the more I watched experimental theater the more I realized… I think I can put these impulses into drag, too. And I started doing that more. And I started performing more in performance art spaces and variety shows, and in long form theater as like whatever character I've been cast as in drag. And I started to feel much more at home and understanding of my character. And I think eventually I realized, when I tell people I'm a drag queen, they have an image of something that I am. But there's also something else. And so I decided, I'm gonna add performance artist onto that. And it feels very exciting. I think adding that label opens me up to possibilities of creating longer form works and works with different types of tech and objects and fluids and media that I think I would not have gotten otherwise.
TB:
That's really great, because it is such an important thing to remember that our perception is created by the things that we've had exposure to. And so, while you're super super lucky to have exposure to drag before you even got into college (like that's so cool) but it was also its own limitation and its own sort of prescription about how it's done and why it's done. So to let these other things in is also you showing other people what is possible.
And that's really cool. I always get frustrated when I am in a “scene” that feels limited by rules about what it is and is not. I think theater has a lot to gain from drag and drag has a lot to gain from theater.
HW:
If they'd only just give each other a chance.
TB:
I love it. Okay! So the next question is - Three things that you're most excited for in the next year… let's say through May 2026.
HW:
Oh, okay, through May 2026.
Finishing the album question mark, hoping it would be done by then. Probably. So we'll say that, and we'll put that into the universe that that's gonna happen. Learning about theater criticism.
Training more with IDC - intimacy directors and coordinators.
Those are my 3.
TB:
Those are huge. Those are great.
HW:
Thank you.
TB:
A lot to be excited about. All right. Is there anything that you're nervous about?
HW:
Yeah, I mean everything I just said, for sure. Definitely everything I just said. Towards the end of last school year, I had to take a three month break from drag, because I was getting so burnt out that I realized I was starting to dread having to get in drag or really perform in any context. And I
was like, I have to cut something out, or I'm going to not want to do any of it anymore, which would not be good. And so I'm just really nervous about finding a sustainable balance of working in all the places that I want to work and taking care of myself to the level that I can do my best.
TB:
I hope that you move through the nervousness about it, because it's such a big part of being an artist, and, you know, it never becomes something where it'll just be the same for a calendar year. It'll be a constant negotiation with yourself. And so starting to really have those conversations with yourself and the people close to you is really important. So good luck with that!
photo: Levi Langley
…
Okay, so we have to wind this down (I am so bad at keeping it short). Two more questions! Are there any shows that you're not involved in that you want to shout out? Anything that you're really looking forward to?
HW:
Oh, that's a great question. Oh, my goodness, okay, wait. I have to think about the things that my friends are doing, and I have to organize them in my head.
Hmm, okay.
My friend madeline Francis is a musician and has their first single out - If God. They're very cool and talented.
And my friend Morgan has a new EP coming out. She's @morgandoesntcare on Instagram, Morgan Julianna in all the music places.
My friend, pachacunti, is a drag queen, and she's just always doing stuff. I don't know what her most upcoming thing is, but look her up. She's very cool.
My friend Levi Langley is a photographer and music journalist, and is so so talented at both. She took all my pictures for promotional stuff for my music, and she does like a lot of concert photos. But other kinds of photos, too, and she writes about music, and she's very cool. If you are interested in music, talk to her.
Leah Plante-Wiener and Eulàlia Comas (laialeah) are fabulous, and they are continuing to produce shows at box machine, and you should see what they have going on there.
Harris Singer wrote a play called Take Me To Dollywood and it is going to be at La Mama! Lastly (for now), Dr. Boat. They're really great. They have a new (semi new at this point) single out. And they're just very cool and talented. And they're performing all around New York live. And they have music that is recorded. And they're great.
TB:
Okay! Last question! What do you imagine yourself doing in ten years? 2035.
HW:
Okay. Oh, boy, so how old? 29? Like what do I hope? Just generally?
TB:
Yeah. August 2035. Where are you? What are you doing? What was your day like?
HW:
Oh, yeah, okay. The answer that I think I've been too scared to admit is my truest desire. It’s that I am living in New York, and I think in the Lower East Side, or maybe part of like the Williamsburg area and I am doing several things at once, in general. But if we're talking about the day specifically, I am working on 1, 2, 3 active projects in a day. Hopefully a good combination of solitary and collaborative, so that I don't go insane in either direction. And At least 2 cats are making their home in my home… and 29. What else? What else could be happening? Hopefully.
TB:
29 is in the midst of your Saturn Return…
HW:
Oh, I have no idea. I don't know. I know my prefrontal cortex should be developed by then, so maybe I'll have totally different hopes that will come with a sense of logic.
TB:
Oh, my gosh! So maybe at 29 you'll be surprised. (reading) Saturn Return is a significant astrological transit that occurs when the planet Saturn returns to the same zodiac sign and degree it occupied at the time of the person's birth. That happens between 27 and 30.
HW:
Oh, that's very cool. Okay, what does that mean? In terms of how I should adjust my behavior.
TB:
Oh, so let's see what to expect… A time of significant change. It can involve career shifts, relationship changes, financial adjustments, a deeper understanding of one's purpose and values.
HW:
Oh!
TB:
It's interesting because you have so much more clarity and inspiration than most 19 year olds that I know and so I think maybe the big change will be that you surprise yourself when you're 29.
HW:
Yeah, I would be a little worried if I hadn't surprised myself by that point.
…
Yeah, I guess that would be the ideal. Several things that I can't currently anticipate. And I'm also hoping that less of my energy is used on being afraid for the world and this country and New York specifically. I wish I had said that first…
TB:
Oh, it's definitely a thing that I think affects every little hope and fear and moment and dollar that we spend and second that we breathe, you know? So yeah, I feel like that's a good wish to put into the next 10 years - that it will take up less of your headspace because things will be doing better.
HW:
Yeah, so, true.
TB:
Well, that is a good chunk of interview.
(Then we talk for a long while about an archiving project that Hannah is helping me with and the hope to make it into a documentary and I forget to properly end the interview…)