3 Questions with Moti Margolin

I first met Moti Margolin in grad school at Actors Studio Drama School and we even did a show together way back when.  Since earning his MFA, Moti has kept very busy in a variety of ways: as an actor, translator, musician, filmmaker and writer.

He has a very exciting fall lined up, including the reading of his first full-length play, The Last Shall Be First, this Sunday, September 21 at 2 pm at CAP 21 Studio Black Box Theater, 18 West 18th Street, presented by the Dutchkills Theater Company.

In October, he's appearing onstage in That Poor Dream, a devised piece that takes inspiration from Dicken's Great Expectations.  It runs October 4-26 at The New Ohio Theatre, produced by The Assembly Theater Company.

In short, Moti is as talented as he is thoughtful.  Read on...

Moti Margolin

Tell me about your production company, Samovar Film Productions.

We call it Samovar because I'm Russian, and I met my wife Emily while doing a production of The Three Sisters, and because samovar is a symbol of comfort, warmth and hospitality.  We keep that idea and approach with all our clients on their artistic goals.  As a production company, we have a broad range of services, from creating content for reels to shooting performances, to creating commercials or promos.  For more information, visit samovarfilmproductions.com

This weekend you're premiering a full length play you wrote, The Last Shall Be First -- how exciting!

In the past, I've written short scripts and translated works, and with The Last Shall Be First, I was working on several different ideas that I then came to realize were originating from the same sources of anxiety and concern: the difficulty of doing good for others, charity.  Once I realized that these different pieces had a common core, I was able to bind it up into The Last Shall Be First.  Since then, the play has, of course, continued to evolve.  My buddy Mike Piazza, the director of the reading, has been great with helping me refine the piece further.  I wouldn't consider myself a playwright, but felt I had something I wanted and needed to share.  I am excited and nervous about it and hope people can come.

I know you got married in the last year, to fellow thespian Emily Perkins, with whom you often collaborate.  Any words of advice to couples out there who work together?

I might not have the best advice to give here, I am too full of foibles!  But one thing I appreciate about her, and I believe she appreciates in me, is that we really do try to listen to each other.  I take very seriously whatever she wants to pursue artistically and otherwise.  That is not to say we don't critique each other.  It is helpful, and I am grateful for it, and I don't know if I would have done half of what I have done over the last couple of years without her.  Certainly not this reading of The Last Shall Be First without her telling me that she believes in it.