Daniel Joshua Rubin on "The Viewing Room"

Inevitably, people ask me what it's about. Why am I writing it? My answers always change. It's about transcendence, and the way our failure to exist in a state of transcendence causes us to do terrible things to each other. It's about racism, sexuality, sexism, violence, and all the gaps that separate us and trick us into thinking we're different than one another. It's about our inability to accept or recognize the truth. It's about the inability of people to connect on the deepest levels. It's about the terror I feel when those atomic scientists move up the hands on the so-called doomsday clock. It's about not knowing what's real.

But maybe all of this is bullshit. And it's really just all about my fear that I don't add up to anything in the end. If I had to bet on what it's about, I'd bet that I don't know. I just know that the play bothers me, and that I like the jolt people seem to get when I tell them about it.

Of note, I'm a 1,000X different today, in 2007 at age 38 then I was when I wrote it somewhere around age 29 for Steppenwolf in Chicago. The older I get the more surprised I am by how high the price is to love someone, especially yourself. The older I get the more respect I have for people who conduct themselves with dignity. The world could be a better place. All in all, there's only two things I really know about this play. If I write it well, people will see whatever they need to see in it. And they'll all be right and wrong. Some might want to talk about it late at night. So, it seems like a worthwhile thing to do.