The List: 10 things playwright Hannah Moscovitch can’t live without
The celebrated playwright is premiering a new double bill at the Tarragon Theatre this month. Here, the 10 things she can’t live without
1 | My guiltiest pleasure
A few years ago I was a writer on the CBC radio show Afghanada. One of the characters loved the mixed martial arts star Georges St-Pierre, so I had to watch a lot of UFC for research. I got hooked. I like to watch a match before bed.
2 | My lucky jacket
I was hit by a car at Dundas and Ossington in 2006, and I nearly died—the doctors still don’t know how I survived. I had this jacket on, and I think it saved me from getting too ripped up.
3 | My podcasts
I listen to a lot of podcasts and university lectures on iTunes. My favourites are the history and science-y ones, like Philosophy Bites or Big Ideas. They give me a chance to learn about neurology or why ants travel in packs or the psychology of death—I just really like information.
4 | My coffee shop
Jimmy’s Coffee is right around the corner from my condo. I go there to work most days.
I started inviting all the baristas to my plays, just so they could see what all my typing and mumbling was about. And one came!
5 | My laptop
I used to have PCs, but they kept crashing. One time I was on tech support and I was yelling at the guy, and he said I should just get a Mac. So I did. And I discovered that all writers have Macs.
6 | My engagement ring
It’s vintage, from the 1880s. My fiancé got it at a crazy antique shop in Montreal. It’s a really big fucking diamond, which isn’t what I ever expected for myself, but I like it now that I have it.
7 | My water therapy
I love going to Body Blitz Spa at Adelaide and Portland because it’s super relaxing. It’s nice to commit to two or three hours of total self-indulgence.
8 | My vodka
I like vodka mostly because it’s Polish. There’s something so vicious about Polish poverty; I imagine they drank a lot of this under Russian rule. I switch from coffee to vodka at around 7 p.m., and it helps me write. My favourite brand is Ketel One.*
9 | My fake pearls
I have a real set, but they’re in a bank vault somewhere. My stepmother, Linda, made me
a fake set, and I wear them with everything.
10 | My inspirational book
I’m obsessed with How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti. If I were to have written a novel, I’d want to have written this one. I like it because we’re both artists living and writing in Toronto, and I feel connected to her that way.
*Update: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that Ketel One is a Polish brand. It’s a Dutch brand. We regret the error.
Hannah , being the writer she is that Ketel One vodka is made in Holland, although after a few drinks it doesn’t matter where it is from.In any case Ketel One is the best “ONE” to start with.
haha, Ketel One is Polish. good to know, ja pierdole…
Hannah is the worst thing that happened to Canadian theatre in years! So mediocre yet so loved by lazy old theatre audience…
Regarding the Ketel One error, at first I was going to criticize Hannah for thinking that Poland was part of the Netherlands, that the Netherlands were part of Poland, that they were synonymous, or that all vodka came from Poland. But from her report, it’s clear that whatever the cause, she’s a Dutch-vodka soaked fool. She says it helps her writing, but it certainly does the reverse for her speaking, which is why we’ll also let her off for romanticizing the not-so-sexy history and struggle of a people she clearly knows little about, and who would probably hate her and her work.