Lizi Watts, William Roth, and Bryn McLaughlin in Steven Dietz's "Fiction." Photo by Patrick Huber. Courtesy of St. Louis Actors' Studio.
When Steven Dietz was writing his play Fiction in the early 2000s, he kept a Post-It note above his desk. On it, he wrote a mantra to guide his work—something he could come back to when he needed it. The note read, “What if you had to live with the secret you thought you were going to die with?”
Fiction is the story of writers Linda and Michael Waterman, a couple who have enjoyed a long, stable marriage. However, when Linda learns she has a limited time left to live, she decides the two should share their diaries with each other. The ensuing plot, Dietz says, centers around “trust, storytelling, and who owns your story.” Audiences can ponder those through-lines at The Gaslight Theater from October 7-23, where the St. Louis Actors’ Studio will be putting on the play as part of its 15th season.
William Roth, founder of the St. Louis Actors’ Studio, was cast in Dietz’s show God’s Country 30 years ago. Ever since then, he says, he’s wanted to stage one of Dietz’s plays; he just needed to wait for the right time. Fiction’s themes of betrayal and familial tension seemed to fit seamlessly with the St. Louis Actors' Studio’s roster of upcoming performances, which all focus on fundamental “facts of life.” Roth will portray Michael in the show.
“I love conflict. Much to my wife’s dismay—she likes happy endings—I like things that are a little more [tumultuous],” Roth says. “Fiction had all of that. It’s funny, it’s interesting, it’s serious. It shows a side of human nature and how relationships work that I don’t think you’d imagine to see until you watch the story unfold.”
Although he’s looking forward to the play’s opening, Roth says the production process has been equally rewarding. For Dietz, seeing his plays age and grow is like “both the good and the bad side of going back through a scrapbook of your life.” He’s changed significantly since he wrote Fiction nearly two decades ago, but it’s a play that continues to be relevant to him.
“I have plays that I go back to and think, ‘I’m not there anymore,’” Dietz says. “But Fiction remains really potent to me.”
For more information and tickets for Fiction, visit stlas.org.
