Matthew Gasda is a playwright, an author and an essayist, and is the co-director of the Brooklyn Center for Theater Research in Brooklyn, NY.

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(00:00) Leaving Bethlehem for New York

(02:35) Early Creative Life and Hidden Passions

(06:10) Growing Up Without Cultural Validation

(09:20) Hiding Creativity in a Conformist Town

(12:40) Arriving in NYC and Romanticizing Poverty

(17:20) First Year Struggles and Inflated Ego

(21:15) Early Dreams, Misjudged Economics of Writing

(24:50) Work Discipline and Daily Creative Practice

(28:10) Financial Insecurity and the Will to Continue

(32:15) Developing Plays Through Constraints and Character

(36:30) Millennial Disillusionment and Lost Traditions

(42:15) Advice for Young Artists in New York