Here is an interview just published in the Seattle Gay News about IBB. Outcast Productions returns with IN BETWEEN BLISS
By Anna Rexia
ANNA REXIA: Hello, Sweetie! As an actress slash drunk, I am very excited about the new Outcast play, IN BETWEEN BLISS. I like that title! Whenever I'm finished a cocktail and really need a beer that's how I feel: IN BETWEEN BLISS! But, back to you, the writer/director/producer. Now, in the past, Outcast Prodcutions have done a lot of comedic and satirical shows, like the cult classic sketchfest, PINE NUTS, and the play, PUTTING AWAY JAMES. Is this new play a little darker, though?
DAN DEMBICZAK: It's definitely got a darker side to it than, say, PUTTING AWAY JAMES. It's still comedic, but a lot of it is awkward and uncomfortable. How it should be, of course.
ANNA: As the biggest fag hag in Seattle, I'm worried about something: it seems like Outcast is moving away from gay themes. In PINE NUTS, you killed several gay characters, and in this new play, you plot things around a breeder couple trying to have a fetus! I don't mean to be dramatic, Sweetie, but is Outcast turning its back on its gay fan base?
DAN: I don't know if I'd ever be comfortable with having a "gay fan base". What would such a thing entail? I'm perfectly happy being snubbed from the brunches and QAF nights (Queer as Folk). But seriously, this play is just as gay as anything else I've written because I'm a fag and it's my point-of-view. The supporting characters happen to be queer, but none of it's about sexual orientation. But I think that's what we come to expect when we hear something being billed as "gay" -- a coming out story or something featuring waxed bodies looking for gay love in Manhattan. So, I'd rather not be lumped into the gay genre for those reasons.
ANNA: Speaking of which, who are the gay characters in this play, and will they be waxed, doing makeovers and/or high on illegal drugs?
DAN: Definitely not waxed. I don't understand that. Men should leave their body hair alone (not to sound like a Cub or something). I don't foresee any makeovers, given the actors I've cast and we'll probably save the Oxycontin for closing night.
ANNA: Now, Sweetie, in the past, your plays have all featured awesome soundtracks that I hear you personally picked out. You've played Built to Spill, Magnetic Fields, Clem Snide and even a Tori Amos remix! So, Mr. DJ, what will you be spinning for IN BETWEEN BLISS?
DAN: Yeah, I'm a big control freak when it comes to the music. It really can help with the mood of a show. So far, this soundtrack features Rolling Stones, KISS, Pavement, N'Sync and some others. I may have smoked too much pot when deciding on the music this time.
ANNA: What have you been doing in the past year, since the QUEER AS FOLK stage reading you did last summer at The Cuff Complex? By the way, Em'ma Gawd! had a blast making her stage debut as a prize presenter along with your host, Adrian Ryan. Now there's an ODD couple!
DAN: Yes, the QAF parody was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, one-night events barely pay for themselves and can be hard to coordinate. Maybe more in the future, though. I really want to stage an episode of "Dawson's Creek." We really wouldn't have to do much to draw laughs. Since our last event I've pretty much been holed up writing - I adapted PUTTING AWAY JAMES into a screenplay and wrote a new play called BIRTHDAY FOR BILLY. And then the usual mayhem.
ANNA: I understand that besides your plays, you love concocting variety shows and theme parties and other drunken social events. What else is on your plate in the near future?
DAN: Theme parties...haven't done that yet I don't think. My friends are better at that than me. My ideas are always tasteless. I do, however, organize the Male Bonding Experimnt.
ANNA: Oh, and what is this? A math equation?
DAN: Math is hot, but not exactly. I'm not even sure what it is yet. Basically, I just pick a location or several (and okay, yeah, I guess there are "themes" but not in a costumey way) and invite as many people as I know. So far it's just been people I know or their friends, and so on. The last one was at Double Header and the next is going to be an Ethiopian Bar Hop. I'm toying with the idea of making it a treasure hunt and opening it up to a wider crowd. It's still early in the experiment and I'm very, very coy.
ANNA: And,
DAN: Do you really think a nice, clean-cut boy like myself would write such a thing?