Meet the Writer: Nicholas Pilapil

Nicholas Pilapil is a writer of plays and songs. He really loves his dog and his favorite food is french fries—his second favorite is potatoes. Nicholas is a co-founder of Becky and Baldwin.

Tell us about Meow, Meow, Hiss.

Meow, Meow, Hiss is a love story about a man and his cat. This play was born from a writing exercise to write the worst play possible. The exercise really allowed me to think outside the box and write freely and what resulted was a first draft of a play that I surprisingly loved. In the end, I think I turned trash into treasure.

What inspires your writing? Otherness. A lot of my writing is inspired from feeling like I don't belong. I think growing up as a non-white American made me hate a lot of things, people, and stuff like white privilege, because I knew I didn't belong and most people thought I didn't speak English. My plays usually in some way comment on those things. I also love weirdos. I like to put people who are overlooked because of their differences, and place them at the center of a story. Those people and their stories inspire me—and are also way more interesting than rich people at their lake house complaining about their #firstworldproblems.

What kind of theatre excites you?

I get excited by shit that's really fucking cool. That's so vague, because so many things can be considered cool. But, when I see it, I know. But, if I’m forced to generalize, I like theatre that is weird (talking animals and characters who speak with no subtext are my jam), musical (plays with songs—especially if there’s rapping), extremely funny and extremely sad (I want to pee myself from laughter and ugly cry from sadness).

What does your writing space look like?

If it's morning there's always coffee. If it's night, there's a 75% chance there's wine. This is my desk at home, where the whiteboard always says July. I also record songs here—in this case I'm recording a demo for the raps in my play Before and After.

Kylie Jenner or Kim Kardashian?

Kylie Jenner! Because she’s 19 but looks 27 and she’s on her like third mansion. I really respect her hustle cause she's a straight up G.

See Nicholas' play Meow, Meow, Hiss in Becky and Baldwin's Other Plays on November 5 at Collective Arts Incubator.