Playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker Seth Panitch chatted about his debut novel “Antique,” which was released via Grand Central/Hachette Publishing.
Background on Seth Panitch
In the entertainment industry, his plays “Dammit, Shakespeare!,” “Hell: Paradise Found,” “Alcestis Ascending,” and “Separate and Equal” have all been produced Off-Broadway, and his films “Service to Man” and “The Coming” are currently distributed by Freestyle Entertainment Studios and Terror Films.
Panitch is also a Professor of Theatre and directs the MFA Acting Program at the University of Alabama.
Panitch is a member of the Author’s Guild, the Dramatists Guild of America, the Society of Directors and Choreographers, and the Illuminati.
How did ‘Antique: A Novel’ come about?
I got the idea during Covid, where all good ideas come from, right? I was teaching my University classes on zoom, so had a good deal of extra time on my hands, and I found myself reevaluating my trajectory in theatre, looking for a new challenge.
One afternoon, I was puffing away on the elliptical, watching a re-run of “Antiques Roadshow,” and saw an older man break down in tears when he learned his grandmother’s blanket was a Navajo Chief’s, worth around 500,000 dollars.
It was as if the world had told him that his grandmother was worth that much, that he was worth that sum.
I thought it was so wonderful that we have organizations—like Antiques Roadshow—that can do this for people. But I also thought, how sad that we need someone else to give us that value, that we can’t find it within ourselves.
I knew I wanted to write that journey to self-values, and it felt like a novel to me, not a play, so off I went.
What inspires your writing process?
Well, I’ve made a successful career out of being a lifelong professional dreamer. Part of my consciousness is always lagging behind the rest of me, or off on some pleasurable jaunt somewhere, so when thoughts occur to me, I begin processing them as story immediately, because that side of me is always hungry for something to chew on.
So, ideas can come to me from anywhere – dreams, snippets of overheard conversations, echoes from history I’ve studied or myths I’ve heard. That ghost of an idea usually inspires a question.
For “Antique,” it was: “What would you do if you found an object that allowed you to set the price of things, not based on the market, but based on your emotional attachment to it?” That is what excites me, that personal connection to the story.
Once I have that, I have to put it on the page before it wanes, which gets my touchas into the writing chair. Then, I’m home free, because, for me, the act of writing, of dream to page creation, is my favorite part of the process.
I lose time, lose myself, I guess you could say, and – to me – I always feel a pleasurable possession occurs.
What did this book teach you about yourself?
It taught me I could write a novel! This is my first, and I’ve wanted to write one since Junior High, so it has been a long time coming.
It also taught me how difficult it is to decide to make a sea change in life, but how easy it is to follow that current once you go all in.
I can get inertial in my work – repeat patterns of past successes – so stepping out of a thirty year bubble was pretty terrifying, but so regenerative.
Were you going for a certain theme?
Absolutely. I like to have a one to three sentence idea or theme for anything I write. This one was: When we finally discover that “new” is not necessarily “better” and turn instead to the forgotten mysteries of provenance, we discover an ancient magic that has the power to heal our broken spirit and bring joy to those around us.
The theme of “Antique” is that the magic we seek lay within – we just have to excavate through a pile of junk to get there.
How does it feel to be an author and novelist in the digital age?
Hmm – I just turned Author, so I have very little to compare it to. In terms of the writing itself, my belief is that nothing has changed for us as authors. We have processed story without social media for 50,000 years, from cave paintings to Shakespeare’s Globe, to Hemingway and Heller, and I believe that wheel is round and does just fine without a click or a like.
Now, in terms of how we SELL that work, everything has changed. Not for the better I would say, but there’s no use paddling up the river, so, like Dr. Strangelove, I have to stop worrying and love the bomb. I’m fine with posts and videos and connecting with a digital audience because I trained as an actor, and an actor is always selling themselves.
Social media is a communication tool (or can be in those rare moments it is not trying to sell you something you don’t need), and it is the language that many of our readers have grown accustomed to, so in that regard it makes our life easier – we can reach people so quickly. On the other hand, so does so much chaff, and I wonder if they can hear us through the din.
Fortunately, during my book tour, I have heard so many store owners tell me they are seeing a substantial uptick in customers buying hardcover and paperback books, and I wonder if some of that increase is due to the reach of social media, and an awakening to the joys of reading.
What is your advice for young and emerging writers?
My first piece of advice is that it is never too late to star! After that, I would say to read/listen to as many interviews with writers you admire as possible. I believe in modeling myself after my influences – creating a mask, you could say, and wearing that first.
So, I use the structure or style of another artist but view things through my eyes, my experience, and that bends and stretches the mask, until I am ready to dispense with it altogether.
Think of it like training wheels until you get your balance, until you hear your voice, and then off you go into that wild blue yonder.
Were there any moments in your career that helped define you?
That’s a great question. For me, it’s not the successes that have defined me, it’s how I’ve responded to failure.
I remember my first directing experience in Cuba in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, and I kept losing actors – some for health reasons, others just flat out disappeared a week before opening – and having to continually recast, refine, and redefine what the show was about and how to bring it to life.
I found myself just stumbling forward, regardless, right into the storm, focusing on the crisis that was exploding right before me, not the one lurking a few corners on, and somehow, the show prospered and crawled to its feet regardless.
I think that lesson has remained with me: just keep leaning into the storm, and ultimately, something good will happen.
What does the word “success” mean to you?
I’m still learning that one. I suppose for me, success has always revolved around being able to take the next step, to continue the pursuit of wherever my passion lies.
In that light, success for “Antique” would mean I get to write and publish another book. I’ve had to alter that meaning, though, and I have readers to thank for that.
I am always so shocked (and elated, of course) when I am at a signing and someone asks to buy the book.
To have someone who does not know you, has never read you, take the chance on your work is a tremendous honor. Every time that happens, I think – “Now that’s a success.” And when they read it and see themselves in it, that success is magnified a million-fold.
What would you like to say to our readers about your new book? (What’s the one thing you want them to get out of it)
My great hope is for readers to take away a little of my own experience in writing the book: that there are hidden parts of themselves that deserve to be uncovered, dusted off, and celebrated.
That there is magic in all of us – one that burgeons within us as we age… if we dare to use it.
His new book “Antique: A Novel” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker Seth Panitch, check out his official website and follow him on Facebook.
