Mary Karty

​

​

Bit about Mary Karty 

–

Karty is an Indiana and Florida native who is devoted to the fine arts. She is a playwright and a technical writer with multiple degrees from Purdue University.  Many of her works have been performed at Indy Fringe Fest and other theaters in the Indianapolis area. 

 

Karty agreed to the question and answer session due to the fact that Elizabeth Terhorst, the interviewer, is the child of Karty’s best friend. In high school and college, Karty and Terhorst’s mother would go to Rocky Horror Picture Show showings and heavily contribute to the audience participation. The two were known for being the life of the party, and a lot of Karty’s plays do bring aspects of that lifestyle into the forefront of the show. The play Three 2 One does have the same type of raunchy humor that Rocky Horror Picture does, but it is just a tad more family friendly, seeing that Karty’s father and aunt came to the show with Terhorst. 

 

Overview of the play

–

Three 2 One is a coming of age story following the mind, heart, and body of one young woman trying to find love in a modern world. We follow these conflicting aspects of the same woman as they fight over what to look for in a man and how the three can find someone to satisfy all their needs.

 

Questions

 

Please state your full name

–

Karty: Mary Elizabeth Karty

 

What is your education/background?

–

Karty: Purdue University 1997 with an English Literature degree, Purdue University 1999 Secondary Education, Purdue University 2020 Certification in Technical Writing/Technical Communication.

 

When did your passion for the arts begin?

–

Karty: Always. My little joke is that choir is a gateway drug to theater. 

 

Terhorst: Interesting, do you want to elaborate on that, or is that just open to interpretation?

 

Karty: Choir is regimented because you have sheet music, and it’s very mathematical in a lot of ways. There’s only certain ways you can interpret it, but you do have [lots of] expression. You share that with the other people in your parts (as a soprano), and you share it with the rest of the choir. You have the orchestra, the piano, the pianist. You create art together, and then you have the performance. I always liked rehearsal better. I like rehearsal better because you’re creating something, and that’s the fun part. Performance stresses me out.

 

And I think actors feel the exact opposite way. Actors like performance while writers like the writing part. The writing part is work. The rehearsal part is like work/play. Performance is like, “Oh! I hope this goes okay because I have no control!” 

 

My dad went tonight, to the performance you did, and he told me, “If you love it, you gotta let it go ‘cause you can’t control it. You can’t hold on too tight, you gotta let it go.” 

 

And, I’m like, “I hope people show up! I hope it’s okay!” 

 

But yeah, I guess it started with choir because, you know, I grew up very religiously, and it was both of my parents, but that was more of my mother’s idea, but that [choir] was an entryway to that performance was through choir. 

 

What inspired you to go into theater specifically? 

–

Terhorst: I know you just mentioned choir, but were there any other things?

 

Karty: Ooooh. Honestly, at least in the Indianapolis market, I felt like it was an easier method to get an audience. Rather than going through the traditional way– going through the novel route. And I think I like the performance aspect, too. 

 

How did you come up with Three 2 One? Where did it come from?

–

Karty: I thought about this answer, and I wanted to tell you specifically. I came up with it while studying Shakespeare. We were studying the dark lady– the sonnets of the dark lady and the fair young man. For straight couples, the only way to get a three out of three [the body, mind, and heart] is for a woman to be educated. That can only happen in modern times. So when I was your age, when I was nineteen, I knew what I had to offer. Just that, you know, I was smart, pretty, and bright and lovely, just like you. I wanted a three out of three. 

 

What is your writing process like?

–

Karty: Oooooooh. [long pause] I come up with the concept first. I definitely have characters [as part of the concept], but I also have an outline. Because I am a technical writer [for my day job],  I kinda tease that Three 2 One is kinda like an entertaining manual of how a woman falls in love. A very thorough [manual]. Mind, heart, and libido. I didn’t want to mess anything up. Not only that, but I only had 54 minutes. And I wanted to make it entertaining, so I made sure you paid attention. But I didn’t want to leave anything out. 

 

But, I come up with the concept first. What story do I wanna tell? And what characters would illustrate that? And every story [I write] comes down to a different element of love. 

 

Three 2 One is a coming of age story of a woman overcoming her shame, and it’s kinda wrapped up like a romantic comedy. But, it’s really about a woman trusting herself. It’s about knowing if she trusts herself, that she can make her own way in the world, that she can have whatever man she wants. If she really trusts her mind, she can follow her heart, and she can have her body’s desire. 

 

They say “mimicry is the best/highest form of flattery,” What does your writing most imitate? Who do you mimic? Or what do you mimic?

–

Karty: I think it’s really hard to characterize your own writing, but (as far as other people have said) my dialogue and snappiness is a little bit Aaron Sorkin. Which I think is flattering. It’s snappy like you’re in Sorkin. We had a very tight, tight fifty four minutes. And we had to cut down to get to fifty four minutes. That’s tight. Tight. Tight. Tight. [snapping to emphasize] Oscar Wilde. I wish I had more- I’m looking across at my bookshelf right now. A little bit of Erica Jong. And that’s J-O-N-G. 

 

What other forms of art do you like to create? 

–

Terhorst: I know you do a lot of writing, that’s your job, but what else do you dabble in?

 

Karty: Coloring. That’s when I really like to zone out and I have, they’re probably right around here because- If you wanted to make this really special, say that you did this in my office. And you can talk about how I used to have strawberry shortcake decor and what’s in my bookshelf. 

 

These are the books that are not for [the] public. When you leave, look what’s in public bookshelf, and then look at what’s in these bookshelves. And you’ll see why this is not for public. [laughs]

 

Terhorst: Okay, okay.

 

Karty: [Laughs] So, especially for this play, I did a lot of dancing. I think that ties back into being a singer. I did a lot of dancing, getting into my body. 

 

How have the people you work with here on the scene influence your work?

–

Karty: Tons. 

 

Terhorst: How do they do it?

 

Karty: [Sigh.] For instance, Ginger, the actor who played Mind, it was easier to change a line for her than to correct her because she’s so logical. If a line didn’t work for her, it was easier to just change it.

 

How I got Tony, who played Dominic and Edward, and Body to get their chemistry right, I was like, “Ok, this is how it’s gonna work. You two met at Gen Con.” And that’s how I got them to work. They brought their experiences and they saw how, “yeah, it’s a little sexy, it’s a little racy,” but it’s so earnest, and it’s so sincere that the racy jokes didn’t get away from it. It was always kept in good taste.

 

As a first time director, I think that they were very patient, and I would say that my actors are more experienced than I am a director. But, I’m a more experienced writer than I am a director, and they are still very experienced actors, so I think that helped a lot. My stage director also knew the nuts and bolts of putting on a show, so that helped a lot, too. 

 

What do you think art is born from, from a writer’s perspective?

–

Karty: Pain. [Laughs] In saving people like you from [pain]. Teaching. Making the road for future generations a little bit less. I wanna teach people how to love, and it shouldn’t be so hard. They say you gotta love yourself first. But sometimes, you have to make the best decision you can with the means at your disposal. Sometimes, you’re too young to love yourself first.

 

What is your next move?

–

Karty: People keep on asking me that. I was trying to get to 5:30pm today. [Sighs]

 

Terhorst: I can write, “You told me off as a response.”

 

Karty: No, it kinda depends. I have a couple of things I’m working on. I want to do The Last Sleepover that is based on a prom night and a wedding and the rapture happening all in the same night. That’s one idea I might do. I might revisit The Small Gods World. For people who saw that, there were some small Easter eggs in this world [Three 2 One], but I’m not trying to like MCU. I’m not the marvel universe, but it is like, “those are the same cups from your last play, and that guy works at the same coffee shop as Jay did.” 

 

The Last Sleepover is possibly where I’m going to go, but I would have to get much younger actors for that. And, getting young actors can be a challenge. When I write, especially for the Indianapolis market, I try to make my casting as open as possible because you don’t know what you’re going to get. You have a lot more fem presenting people than masculine, so if you look at Mind, Heart, and Body, a lot of body types and a lot of age groups can fit in those roles. And that’s good because we had a lot of drops. That happens, you know. People get busy. We are professionals, and everyone is getting paid. Don’t look so surprised! 

 

Terhorst: Well, I know in Valpo, a lot of things are just volunteer because it’s smaller. This was my first experience with Indy Fringe Fest. I have no idea how it works

 

Karty: Yeah, Indy Fringe Fest is kinda a big deal. There’s only 26 fringe fests in all of the United States. 

 

Terhorst: That’s cool! And everyone gets paid!

 

Karty: Well, everyone gets paid at my shows. Maybe not all productions, but everyone gets paid with Mary Karty.

 

Terhorst: Everyone gets paid with Mary Karty, okay.

 

Karty: We have ticket sales. Everyone does get paid at Fringe Fest. The theatre gets it– you get a partial of your ticket sales.

 

You just mentioned that people get busy. What else keeps you busy? What other things are you involved with outside of the fine arts and writing?

–

Karty: I am a member of Indiana Writers Center and Indiana Playwrights. The two biggest things that have the biggest influence on my adult life are being part of choir, and being part of the writers center. It was the biggest impact of my career. When I moved back to Indiana, I was able to make friends, and I was able to reinvent myself. It’s how I was able to do Fringe. 

 

My last question is: What do you wish someone had told you about playwriting when you were first starting out?

–

Karty: I wish people would tell me more, now. I’m barely getting along. 

 

Study. Study. Do your research and study. Go to plays, as many as you can, know the craft and practice your craft. I said that with such authority, didn’t I? STUDY! Don’t half ass it! It shows when you half ass it. [Laughs] It took me 20 years to be an overnight success, Lizzie.

 

Terhorst: Well, you made it. This is it. It is just like the fish you were talking about.

 

Karty: If this isn’t making it, I don’t know what else is.

 

Other info

– 

Karty is still writing and researching here in Indianapolis. She lives in Broad Ripple with her husband Matt and their dog Henry. Her presence in the scene and at the Indiana’s Writer’s Center is essential to the ebb and flow of what local writers are trying to do. Karty has touched many hearts and continues to do so. She plans to continue showing plays at Fringe and hopes to see you there. 

 

Author bio
– 

Elizabeth Terhorst is from Valparaiso, Indiana and is currently a sophomore at IUPUI getting a bachelors in Secondary English Education and English Literature