Mikaela Duffy stars in Team Theatre’s Off-Broadway Production of “StarSweeper”

Edition One- Week One:

By Jacob West/Photographer: Paige Barry

Team Theatre, a theatre company made up of international artists from all across the world, has been in operation since 2018, and in that time they have already produced an incredible body of work, even in spite of the pandemic.

From their 2018 production of Almost Maine to their Fun Fab Fest in 2021 which supported new pieces of writing, there is little doubt that Team Theatre has a real knack for producing creative, relevant, and entertaining pieces of art. For their 2022 debut, Team Theatre was proud to present StarSweeper, directed by Gwendolyn Snow, and both written and starring award-winning actress Mikaela Duffy. Playing at the Kraine Theatre in Manhattan, New York, the show’s description reads: “StarSweeper” is a heartwarming and heart-breaking adventure experience where Sergeant Riley traverses lightyears over the course of a 5-year-solo mission.

With sharp humor and deft storytelling, “StarSweeper” uses discussions of humanity and the beauty of existence to flash a new light of hope into the darkness of today’s reality. After booking my ticket for the 5th of March, I was privileged enough to sit down with Duffy to discuss her role in the creation of this fascinating piece.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself and your career.

“I am from the backwoods of Florida – as far into the nether as you can possibly imagine! Originally, I had started my life thinking that I was going to be an attorney and that I would then go into Criminal Profiling. Which is probably why I have so many serial killer books on my shelf! (Laughs). So, I graduated, got accepted into Law School and, during that time, I started meeting all these different people from around the world – Europe, Australia, etc. – and I realized that there were so many different ways of life, far more than I had imagined in my poverty-stricken little brain!

So, I ended up bowing out of Law School, and I didn’t really know what to do. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be a hundred thousand dollars in debt and stuck in an office for the rest of my life. And so, my friends and I took a random trip to NYC to see a show, and when I was in the Airbnb, my host heard me humming. She asked me if I sang, and when I said yes, she asked me if I could sing something for her. So, I did. And she told me: “If you don’t do something with that voice before you come back to New York City, I will personally escort you back out”. So, after that, I started auditioning for things, and I got cast in my first role on October 5th of 2015 (my acting anniversary!). I started getting cast in musicals, and then in plays, and I started realizing that I also could write.

Therefore, I wrote my first play – For Love, Sir – which was a set of letters written to and from soldiers to their families. It was basically a monologue show, but it was the first time I’d ever had an opportunity to write something from my heart. And the show did really well, it won a bunch of awards – Patrons Pick, and I won Best New Producer – it was really cool! We also got Broadway World nominations. And then, I decided that I wanted to pursue this full time. So, I started working with a couple of acting coaches and a vocal coach so that I could prepare for grad school auditions.

Fast forward years later, I am in New York City and currently working on my first Off-Broadway show! Which I’ve written myself and am performing as my first solo show!”

Q: Where did the idea of StarSweeper come from?

“So, I’ll be honest. The original idea came from the fact that I was writing a play for my ex. It was going to be a one person show, and he loved space. So I thought, what’s easier than putting one person in space? That’s a great concept to start with.

So, I started writing the show, and I was really gonna lean in to the whole solitary confinement aspect (because, you know, all actors love playing crazy!). And, when we broke, I thought “Man, I’ve done so much research and put so much effort into this show. I can’t just let it die.” So, I decided to write it for myself, instead, changing the concept to being one about humanity, and the beauty of existence.

Basically, things I wanted to talk about. I then reached out to a ton of scientists (including a professor from NYU and four scientists from the Science Museum in Boston), and the story ended up coming out to be about someone who wanted to exemplify humanity. A lot of what inspired the show was actually Sam’s monologue from Lord of the Rings, where he says “There’s some good in this world. And it’s worth fighting for”. That’s the concept of this play – there’s always something worth fighting for, there’s a reason why people matter. It’s also so based on love, which is a cool experience. When my ex and I broke up, I was flooded with people reaching out to me and trying to take care of me, telling me that they loved me and they they were here for me.

And, I didn’t know what to do with all of that. I’d never had such an outpouring of people telling me I mattered and wanting to make sure I was okay. Everyone who has been involved in the show have said that they
love the concept, loved the story, loved me. This whole show has been born from love.
Such a cool experience.”

Q: Tell us about the character you play.

“Sergeant Riley Nestor is, in some cases, blindly optimistic. She is someone who has had to struggle to get where she is. The world that she lives in, which she discusses a bit in the first monologue, involves a binary star system (two stars around a single planet, kinda like Tatooine) which are going through a single degenerate, Type 1 A, supernova, which is basically when one star is alive and the other is dead. The dead star begins to suck power, like a zombie, from the alive star, until both of them die.

When that happens, considering it’s 55 lightyears away, that then becomes the brightest thing in the sky. Brighter than the sun. Riley is coming from a world where at least for the last 10 years, the earth itself has been affected by this scientific mayhem. So, imagine this thing in the sky that’s brighter than the sun, being there constantly. And imagine how that affects plants, how that affects animals, how that affects people. And then, at night, the moon is just a reflection of the sun, which means the world is never really dark. This has affected how Riley has lived, having to struggle with all of this. And, their older sibling goes on this rescue mission to save some people who were outside the planet on a research mission. So, with all that backstory, this is to say that Riley has this idea of being a hero. She’s become this absolute go-getter! One of her biggest cons is that she often acts and speaks without thinking, especially when she’s hurt. But it all comes from love, this desire for community, and not being alone.

I straight up wrote up wrote this show to be me! My director, Gwendolyn, told me “Okay, I’m having a lot of fun watching you on stage, but we need to create a character here”. I struggled so hard to figure out the differences between myself and Riley. I did a lot of exercises and I just wasn’t getting it. And then, my co-star, Patrick, asked me “Why do you think she does this?” And I thought “Oh my god! These are like DND character questions! So, I made a DND character profile for her! And this helped make my life so much easier, I understood her a lot better!”

Q: What do you hope audiences will take away from the play?

“That there is hope and that we matter. That would be my whole goal. I really want people to see the show and think “I’m worth someone going against the universe for. Because I matter. There’s something in me that is special. Because I exist”. My sibling was one of the main inspirations of this show because I would fight the world for them. I dedicated this play to them. That’s how much they are loved.”

Q: Let’s talk about Team Theatre. How did you get involved, and what sets them apart from other theatre companies?

“I was up at midnight waiting for the application for the Frigid Fringe Festival to open up, because the first 12 applicants get in, no matter what. After getting in, I started writing the script and then thought “I can just produce this by myself, but I want to include more people in this”. So I thought about Team Theatre, contacted them, and asked if they wanted to be involved.

So, I reached out to Dorothea Gloria, who’s on the board, and I asked her to read my script. She loved it and was on board the second she read the first five pages. I then reached out to Gwendolyn Snow, our director, and asked what she thought. She also loved it. So they both got involved. And through Team Theatre, I had access to a technical director and stage manager, an assistant props master, script support – all these people who were really good at the things they did. The thing about Team Theatre is that it is full of people who are excited to work. They want to do stuff. They love art and they want to make art and want to make magic happen. No ego at all, just people who want to collaborate and make something.”