Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwright Katori Hall will look to continue her success in the television space with the second season launch of Starz’s hit drama series P-Valley.
The series, based on Hall's 2015 play Pussy Valley, follows the events revolving around a small, Mississippi-based strip club and the big characters who come through its doors.
When she’s not serving as creator, writer, showrunner and director for P-Valley, Hall is active in the theater. She’s on tap to direct her 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning off-Broadway play The Hot Wing King in 2023, and is collaborating on an upcoming U.S. Tour of the Broadway play Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, based on Hall’s 2020 Tony Award-nominated book.
Hall spoke to Multichannel News on the eve of the June 5 second season premiere of P-Valley to talk about the success and expectations for the drama series, as well as the challenges of writing for both TV and the theater. A edited transcript of the conversation appears below.
MCN: Does the success of P-Valley’s first season help or hurt the prospects for a successful sophomore campaign?
Katori Hall: It's interesting, I don't even try to think about it because it's a thing you can't replicate. The season one success was so unexpected – the show dropped at a crazy time in the middle of a pandemic – so you just can't replicate that given circumstance. I know that the interaction with the show is going to be different this time around; we're two years away from that moment versus being in the thick of it. Right now people expect us to be excellent, but I am the type of person that really focuses on the things that I can control, and that’s the writing, directing and the creation of it all. I really think that across the board, from the writing to the acting to the directing, it's a show that's a thousand percent better.
MCN: You have talked a lot about the importance of authenticity in storytelling. Has Starz allowed you to tell the story you wanted to tell?
KH: Absolutely. From the page to the sound stage to the editing booth, I literally had so much control. This season was incredibly ambitious because we were outside and on location a lot. We were really aiming to go outside the borders of [fictional city Chucalissa, Ms.] so that audiences could travel the south with our characters. I'm really happy that I was able to achieve 90% of my goals creatively in season two.
MCN: What should viewers expect to see in season two?
KH: In season two we're going to get deeper into the lives of our characters. I think it's really important when you get inside of someone's bedroom or someone's closet -- you get to understand them so much better. I just feel as though we're going to pull those story threads and those power dynamics from season one, but they're going to play out in a more intimate way.
MCN: Now that you have two seasons of the series under your belt, do you have a preference between writing for television and playwriting?
KH: I prefer both … they are just very different from each other. I think about my latest play, The Hot Wing King, in which there’s just one space that I have all of my characters come in and out of. With a TV show like P-Valley, I now have 20,000 spaces and sometimes 50 scenes in one episode. I love being able to bounce back and forth between both mediums. I think being a TV writer makes me a better playwright and vice versa. Not a lot of writers get the opportunity to be able to bounce back and forth.
MCN: Having said that, are you working on any other television shows or plays at the moment?
KH: So with The Hot Wing King, which won the Pulitzer Prize last year, I'll be making my theater directorial debut in Atlanta in early 2023. That’s a project that I hold very near and dear to my heart because it’s based on my brother and his partner. Also Tina, The Tina Turner Musical which I worked on, is about to start its U.S. tour. I’m just really excited to jump back into the theater because it’s been dark for so long [due to the pandemic]. It felt like with P-Valley we did 10 movies and that was very taxing, so it ‘s going to be a breath of fresh air to be back in the theater again. ■
