An Interview with Playwright Aly Kantor, Author of Body Horror in the First Festival of Feminist Theater

Ilana Lydia
3 min readJan 22, 2024

This script is something else…

Image of Aly Kantor courtesy of the playwright

1. Please give me your name, what part of the world you’re in, and favorite author.

My name is Aly Kantor, and I’m from Massapequa Park, NY (which is on Long Island, just under an hour from NYC). Some of my favorite contemporary playwrights are Georgina Escobar, Anna Ouyang Moench, and Alistair McDowall. I am also a sucker for a Kate Hamill adaptation.

2. Tell us a little about your play.

This play is about two brilliant but sheltered thirteen-year-old catholic school girls who, in the past, have come together to raise a little hell. Through their powers combined and the intimate, liminal setting of a middle school sleepover, they arrive at some unique conclusions about their changing bodies. It’s queer, it’s absurd, it’s relatable, and I hope it will be a lot of fun!

3. What gave you the idea to write it?

In our society, understanding our own anatomy, especially where sexual and reproductive health is concerned, is so often taboo. But why?! There is absolutely no reason for this! I kept coming across situations in which grown adults were learning new things about their bodies — bodies they had lived in since…

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Ilana Lydia

A theater person/writer/reader of curiosities. A believer in wonder.