Swamp Romp

PLAYWRIGHT BURTON BUMGARNER TALKS ABOUT “SWAMP ROMP”

Q.: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THE PLAY? A.: An intense fear of swamps. I’m especially afraid of alligators, venomous snakes, disease-spreading insects, brackish water, exotic plants and mud. Whenever Animal Planet or Discovery Channel runs shows about marshes I feel like I’m watching a horror movie.

Q.: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OR LINE IN THE PLAY? WHY? A.: I love the character of Everett trying to make a no-budget independent horror movie with a camcorder, two actors and a jar of marinara sauce. He doesn’t have a screenplay ... or a clue. Still, his desire to enter the Sundown Film Festival drives him forward. And he won’t let a little thing like a lack of talent get in the way of his dreams.

Q.: TELL US ABOUT SOME OF THE CHARACTERS. A.: In a south Georgia swamp we find a biology professor and students who become lost, a book club trying to read “War and Peace” (they’ve been at it for nine months and they’re up to page 5), Everett the wannabe horror film director (see previous question), some New Yorkers whose GPS device tells them they’re in downtown Baltimore, some underachieving volunteer firemen, and some angry bees. It’s the kind of literary work Nathaniel Hawthorne would have written if he had lived long enough ... or maybe not.

Q.: WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS PLAY? A.: I want people to be careful whenever they visit the Everglades.

Q.: ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT THE PLAY? A.: It’s a very funny play, and I’m really not afraid of swamps.