Sadly, I couldn’t be there that legendary day that the amazing Sergei Burbank graced us with his presence as our guest star. , I remedied that omission by reaching out to him and finding out a little more about his work. And now, a few months later, here it is, that wonderful moment when words – and worlds – collided.

Lauren Ferebee: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your art, and how you came to Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Sergei Burbank: I’m a performer-turned-writer-turned-producer. I followed some very good advice to be heedful of where there was a gap, and I quickly saw that while there was little need of another chronically insecure performer, there would be some utility for me as a playwright, and even more as a facilitator / producer. So that’s kept me busy. My plays tend to emerge from arguments I have in my head, so the themes revolve around race, gentrification, and war, mostly. I guess the theme I’m fixated on most consistently is cruelty: that shows up front and center in most of my pieces. For more blah blah blah people can go to my website: [http://boisterous-eremite.com/] After a decade or so of producing my own work I was happily absorbed into Oracle Theatre Inc., founded by Jennifer and Isaac Rathbone, and I’ve been with them for the past few years helping to coordinate their various reading series and full productions. It was through Isaac that I got invited to sit in with LRR for a session.

Lauren Ferebee: What are you excited about right now, in your own work & in the theatre world in general?

Sergei Burbank: I’m helping develop the script for a new (partial) Henriad (Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, and Henry V) that Oracle will run in rep this fall with an original work by LLR’s own Isaac Rathbone. We’re drawing out the script process over many months, and I really enjoy longer schedules like this because it allows for more profound discoveries.

In the wider theater world I’m very excited that technology has become cheap enough to allow both mainstream and indie theater productions to incorporate film with live performance.

Lauren Ferebee: Career highlights?

Sergei Burbank: I’m grateful to have found a creative home with Oracle Theatre Inc. Being invited to join their company was a wonderful validation of my work thus far.

Lauren Ferebee: You’re our Guest Star. What’s the one ridiculous rider in your Star Contract that we have to fulfill (like green M&Ms, peacocks in the dressing room, etc.)?

Sergei Burbank: London Underground – themed towels. And Pat Kiernan on hand to read interesting articles aloud to me as he finds them.

Lauren Ferebee: Why New York? What keeps you here?

Sergei Burbank: I’m a native, so it is a lucky coincidence that I eventually decided to work in theater, since I could do it in my hometown. I stay because the more I see of other places, it’s clear I don’t belong anywhere else.