The Playwright’s Room: Alle Mims
The Playwright’s Room is a series featuring the newest cohort of Columbia Playwriting students. These playwrights study under the tutelage of David Henry Hwang and Lynn Nottage.
This week, Playwriting student Alle Mims (she/they) sat down with us in The Playwright’s Room. Mims is interested in exploring race and class, gender and sexuality, and power and abuse, through satire and dark humor. As a queer Black woman who lived in Texas for 9 years, Mims knows how to laugh through desperate times. She is originally from San Diego but earned her BA in acting/directing at Texas Woman’s University and has worked professionally as an actor on stage and screen. In 2018, Mims served as an editor for the Dallas-Ft. Worth Theatre Standards, and in 2019, co-produced the first Womxn in Theatre Festival in Dallas. She also co-founded Altered Shakespeare, a company dedicated to giving opportunities to BIPOC, queer, and untapped talent, as well as bringing classic works to new audiences. Mims’ play, Sally and Thomas, which shows a satirical conversation between Sally Hemmings and her slave-master, Thomas Jefferson; was produced at Pocket Sandwich Theatre, Sundown Collaborative Theatre, and The Guinea Pig IV. She also collaborated with local Dallas playwrights to create The Tree – An American Rock Musical.
Tell me about your first time in Theatre.
Alle Mims: The first time was in elementary school. My school had this program where if a student did all of their homework on time, they had the chance to perform in a skit or puppet show once a month. I was such a teacher’s pet in school so I was always picked to do that. The one I remember the most was a play called The Three Little Fishes and it was a play on The Three Little Pigs. I played the shark (similar to the wolf from the original fairy tale). I had a lot of fun doing that and it was a reward for good performance so that was really great.
In middle school, I took my first theatre class and I originally thought “Why would anyone want to do anything other than this?” That’s when I wanted to be an actress. I would sometimes work backstage, but I loved performing most.
You’ve worked extensively as an actor. What made you want to go to school for playwriting?
AM: I knew I wanted to go back to school but I didn’t want to do an acting degree again. Being a young woman, you’re really encouraged to take advantage of using what you look like right now and performing. I enjoy performing but I realized I kept trying to fit in a box that I wasn’t sure I fit in. Being behind the scenes you have so much more choice. The performer is the last ingredient and the last part of the show. I wanted to be a part of the creating. I took a year to write and tried to get works produced. I had a mentor who had just graduated from Columbia who helped me, and I got a play produced three times that year. With playwriting I got to be myself, unfiltered. When I was acting I felt like I was putting on a mask, which I enjoyed, but I like the authenticity of writing more.
Why did you pick Columbia for your MFA?
AM: The faculty was a big draw for me. I’ve never had a professor who wasn’t white teach me theatre. Now this last semester most of my professors were people of color. That is so important and I’m so grateful.
Tell me about Sally And Thomas.
AM: The play was produced three times. For one production I directed it and for another production I performed as Sally. With each production the play got shorter and shorter. I got to see what jokes really didn’t work. Most of my notes were “Cut this, cut this, cut this.” The third time I did this play, they wanted the scene down to 5 minutes and that was tough. I had cut a lot of good elements just for the sake of time. I added that back in when I submitted it to Columbia. It’s normally a ten minute play and the speech is in elevated English so it just takes a little bit longer.
I submitted Sally And Thomas along with a one-act play. The one act was only eight pages but it was the best play I had ever written so I submitted it as well. It was such a weird feeling to know that they read my work. They asked about specific things that I wrote and my inspirations behind them. I had never really talked to anyone about my writing.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from your time at Columbia so far?
AM: Always check your time zone. I’m kidding, but not really. I learned that I’m much more capable of writing than I thought I was. I really enjoy learning about the social movements of the 1960’s. I’m interested in Columbia students’ role in that movement and in the current movement for the Tuition Strike. Students always have and always will be a part of social movements. It’s important for students to realize the collective power that they have. I really commend the people leading the tuition strike.
How would you define your writing style?
AM: In class, [Adjunct Professor] Robert O’Hara ‘96 called one of my plays a molotov cocktail and I love that. I write about politics and historical people. I use satire to talk about some dark subjects that you normally wouldn’t laugh at or talk about. I can have a conversation about racim, slavery, or gender violence without it being an after school special.
What’s your favorite play or playwright?
AM: Anna Deveare Smith writes a lot of docu-plays that I love. Her plays are so deeply rooted in history and research. I like Lauren Gunderson for similar reasons. I really love Young Jean Lee. I want to have work that is as gut-wrenching as that. I love her Lear and The Shipment. I really admire her and her play company. Oslo was my favorite play for a while. I like to learn something while being immersed into a time period or the events of the time.
What’s next for you?
AM: I’m working on a play that currently has the working title, The Stripper Play. I used to work in a strip club and am interested in sex work advocacy. During certain moments in time, like this pandemic, sex workers are often not eligible for government relief so they are often harder hit. I’m really excited to write this play. People who go to the theatre maybe don’t go to the strip club that often so I want to bring that to them. I want the show to be somewhat immersive, without a clean break between the audience and performers. I have my cast of characters for the play but I’m still coming up with my driving force. There are some locker room scenes, monologues, and popcorn scenes where everyone is talking. I’ll be developing this in [Adjunct Assistant Professor] Rogelio Martinez’s class.
Follow Alle Mims on TikTok, Instagram, New Play Exchange, and Twitter.