written by Eric Simonson
Recognized for his arts-driven advocacy and activism by the Wisconsin state legislature, Paul McComas is a two-time Chicago Reader Critic's Choice honoree in Theatre and Performance, and an award-winning author.
He is an American Film Institute Prize- winning filmmaker whose current project, a feature adaptation of his acclaimed novel Unplugged, stars Christina Ricci, Louis Gossett Jr. and, in his final role, the late, great Edward Asner. The film is being co-produced by McComas with Oscar winner Lynne Littman and Emmy winner Adam Belanoff.
I recently talked with McComas about his experiences leading seminars at Björklunden and his upcoming class: A Timely Trip Into the Twilight Zone, that prophetic “Fifth Dimension” of Depth and Meaning.
Eric Simonson (ES): You’re a bit of a hyphenate in your occupation, or rather, occupations. Tell me a little about that.
Paul McComas (PM): Obviously, I'm not putting myself in his company, but the late playwright/actor Sam Shepard has been a longtime inspiration. For him -- as for most every writer-actor, I'd guess -- each craft informed the other. I'm also a musician, and I work in a few other art forms, but I reject the pretentious term "Renaissance man" and instead embrace "Jack of all trades, master of none." The Jack is a pretty high card! Plus, if one were to truly "master" something, then what would be the point of aspiring and striving to improve? You'd stop learning; you'd stop growing.
ES: How did you get into teaching at Björklunden?
PM: Mark Breseman (former Director at Björklunden) kind of "scouted me out" at Halfway WHERE?, a mid-career retrospective performance I did at Third Avenue Playhouse [in Sturgeon Bay]. I think he liked what he saw, because 2006 -- the very next summer -- marked my Björklunden debut, teaching a class in creative writing.
ES: What made you want to move from creative writing classes to other topics?
PM: I started the transition by folding-in some literature, because one way to become a better writer is by reading and discussing stellar writing. I focused on Shakespeare, Shepard, John Steinbeck, Joyce Carol Oates, and Melissa Banks, among others. I have to assume that any aspiring author in my "creative-writing plus literary-studies" courses gleans valuable insights from reading and discussing some of the greats.
At Björklunden, I then moved on to TV's Golden Age, then TV's Middle Period, then a full immersion in Shakespeare last year with the Best of the Bard seminar.
ES: Tell me about your next class. Why Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone?
PM: Well, as a kid I was big into science fiction, horror, ghost stories, etc. I was also engaged, from an early age, in social issues and progressive activism. Through allegory, Serling combined all of these in The Twilight Zone. And when the episodes weren't political, they were often philosophical, exploring what it is to be human, to be alive -- all through stories of the fantastical, through the lens of, per Serling, that “fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to Man”: the imagination.
The seminar also times out perfectly: 2024 marks the centennial of Serling's birth, and our last class day is the 65th anniversary of The Twilight Zone's first-ever airing.
ES: What are your impressions of Björklunden and the seminar program?
PM: Isn’t the slogan something like "Vacation with A Focus?" That’s an excellent description. We have this literal sweet spot, a retreat center in the woods, by the lake. It doesn’t get much better than that.
And this idyllic place offers a conceptual sweet spot, too, in that, even as you're learning from the instructor and from each other, there’s ample time to just enjoy, well, one of the nicest places on earth, frankly! And to enjoy wonderful people who have the same interests, values and priorities.
One of my favorite things to do is pour a glass of wine and take it out to where those chairs on the mini-bluff face the lake, bring my acoustic guitar as well as the work that we're studying, and prepare for the next class. You know: work on material about which I care deeply, in a perfect place. It’s paradise.
Register for the seminar here>>