Matthew Weaver is a playwright, screenwriter, and journalist from Spokane, Washington. Plays he's written have been produced in 26 states (including Indiana), Canada, Japan, Ireland, and England. Of particular interest to The Indiana Pizza Club, is the fact that two of Mr. Weaver's plays are set in pizza parlors. Mr. Weaver was nice enough to share some thoughts with us on his work and the pizza scene in his native Washington. His scripts are available on New Play Exchange . Check out the interview below and then seek out his terrific work!

Q. Can you tell us a bit about how you became a playwright and your career to this point?

A: I've always liked writing, and have tried to write at least a half-hour each day for the last 15 years or so. I write all kinds of things - I have several novels sitting in desk drawers (just finished one as my big 2020 project), poems and screenplays. Plays have been where there seems to be the most positive reinforcement. I have more than 300 plays on the New Play Exchange, ranging from one-minutes to full-lengths, from zero cast members (a one-minute) to zillions of cast members (also a one-minute). My dream job is to be the head writer for a soap opera, particularly GENERAL HOSPITAL. I worked for the newspaper in Moses Lake, Wash., and would write previews for Masquers Theater in Soap Lake, which is about a half-hour north. When I left that paper and moved back home to Spokane, I was comfortable enough with one of the directors (and it would no longer be questionable in terms of journalistic ethics), I sent him a full-length play I wrote, saying it was my first full play I'd ever attempted, asking him to tell me what I got wrong. That play was BED RIDE, about a married couple - Bob and Agatha Outhaus- that is confined to their beds because Agatha is pregnant and just about to give birth and Bob broke both of his legs. Only he's an outdoors newspaper columnist, so he is faking the stories he's writing in order to keep his job. Their nurse has a thing for bad boys, and the husband's roguish ne'er-do-well brother arrives to help out, with his bimbo girlfriend Twinkie. It is totally a farce, with gangsters and birdwatchers arriving on the Outhaus' doorstep. The director, Randy Brooks, called me a few weeks later after reading it and asked if he could share it with the theater's artistic director, Bev Hasper. She called a few weeks after that, and asked if they could put the play on. The very first play I wrote got nine performances over three weeks. My family and I traveled the two hours from Spokane for opening night and each Sunday matinee for three weeks. Friends from around the area attended, some of my favorite college professors AND my second-grade teacher. It really didn't sink in for me until we got their opening night, and all of a sudden there was this big red curtain on stage. I thought, "Oh, I wrote a play .. and if it's terrible we're stuck here for TWO HOURS." The curtain went up, the cast started saying their lines and I relaxed. They knew what they were doing. It was like being on a roller coaster. It was life-affirming. (You can still watch it here )

Q. You've written two terrific one-act plays that take place in pizza parlors - Skeletons and The Anchovy. We think that more plays should be set in pizza parlors! What inspired you to use this as a setting for two of your scripts?

A. One of my family's favorite things to do growing up was the Godfather Pizza buffet in north Spokane. We'd go with my grandparents and eat our fill. My Grandma Margaret particularly liked the cherry dessert pizza, to the point where she would good naturedly threaten to go and sit and glare at the workers until they put it out. Now that you mention it, I may have to write some more pizza-inspired plays. I am all for increasing pizza parlor representation in dramatic works!

Q. The language in Shakespeare is a bit too confusing for most Indiana Pizza Club members. And many of us read the Arthur Miller high points in high school. And you can assume that that is the extent of our theater knowledge. So who are some modern playwrights whose work is interesting and accessible that you might recommend to our members?

A. Oooh, I always like to promote my fellow playwrights. My absolute favorite 10-minute play is called THE WINDOW, by fellow Spokane playwright Tristen Canfield. It's about a fish and a cat sitting by a window. I have also gotten fortunate enough to get to become friends with Tristen - we've had coffee and doughnuts while writing together. I thoroughly recommend getting to have coffee and doughnuts with the author of your favorite 10-minute play of all time. (She has also commandeered my online dating profile and I think would be very proud of me for telling you that I'm single and looking, ladies!) Some of my other favorite friends/playwrights include Scott Sickles (especially TARTARUS), Giselle Muise (BEHIND THE SHED), Emily Hageman (BATMAN VS. THE PERSON STEALING OUT OF THE WORK FRIDGE) , Lindsay Partain (UNTIL THE EARTH BREAKS OPEN), Franky Gonzalez (ESCOBAR'S HIPPOS), Donna Hoke (TEACH), Steven G. Martin (THE SUBTLE, SUBLIME TRANSFORMATION OF BENNY V.)- an Indiana playwright!!!!!!!!, Ruben Carbajal (YOU CAN THANK ME LATER) and Asher Wyndham (EARTHWORM KID: A MONOLOGUE FOR AN ACTOR'S INDEX FINGER).

Q. What is the pizza scene like up where you live in the state of Washington? Are there any pizzerias our members should check out if we ever visit The Evergreen State?

A. I hereby propose a Washington outpost for the Indiana Pizza Club. Some of my favorite experiences:

• Pete's Pizza by Gonzaga University in Spokane (you may have heard of our college basketball team). I have been eating their calzones since before I was born. The original is my all-time favorite.
• Chico's Pizza Parlor in Moses Lake. Their Hochstatter Special is literally LOADED with Canadian bacon, pepperoni, black olives and actual bacon, to the point where the bottom part of the cardboard box is soooo greasy it's almost see-through. Local legend had it that when babies were shy about being born, eating this pizza could inspire them to make their entrance into the world. Since returning home to Spokane, I've gone back several times to fill up a cooler with a Hochstatter Special and brought it home to Spokane. Well worth the visit to the state alone.
• Last year, David's Pizza in Spokane teamed up with their neighbor, High Tide Lobster Bar, to offer a limited-time Surf & Turf (lobster and brisket) pizza. They made about 40 for one evening and you could only get them in person. I was one of the fortunate 40. I'm hoping they do another one!

Q. If you could have a pizza dinner with any three people (dead or alive), who would you choose to dine with and why?

A. Steve Martin, comedian-actor-novelist-writer-banjo player. In addition to writing the movies L.A. STORY, ROXANNE and BOWFINGER, he also wrote my favorite PLAY of all time, PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE. If I could have a career resembling anyone's, it would be his. Olivia Wilde, whom I've had a crush on ever since she was in SKINS, the short-lived TV series (not the British one). I saw the first movie she directed, BOOKSMART, and am happy to report that my crush became even more justified. Olivia, I'm single and looking! And dearly departed Claire Labine, who created the soap opera RYAN'S HOPE and also wrote for one of my favorite time periods on GENERAL HOSPITAL. I think we would have a wonderfully wicked time talking about storytelling, writing and I'm pretty sure Olivia Wilde would have just as big a crush on me by the time the evening was over.

Shameless plugs: My 10-minute play WILLY'S MOM GETS IN THE CAR will be in the Smith & Kraus 2021 Best Ten-Minute Plays anthology. Some of the playwrights I mentioned above will be in Empower , an all-women run festival at Stage Left Theater in Spokane, inspired by the boudoir photography of Crystal Madsen, a friend since high school. Your club members should be able to attend online in June! And the Spokane Film Project hosted a public reading of my full-length screenplay, FEAR ITSELF , a romantic comedy about clowns.