SOURCE: Zinman, Toby Silverman, and David Rabe. “Interview.” In David Rabe: A Casebook, pp. 3–15. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.

In the following interview conducted in 1990, Rabe discusses his influences and interests, including language and ancient folk legends.

[Those the River Keeps is Rabe's first new play in more than six years, and thus constitutes a major event in the theatrical community. It will open under his direction at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton early in 1991. It takes up the character Phil from Hurlyburly, his marriage, and his life in California as it is interrupted by the appearance of Sal from his gangster past. When I suggested to Rabe that the two plays could be combined in some marathon theatre event, he playfully explained: “it would go like this: you'd see Act One of River, and then Act One of Hurlyburly, and then Act Two of River and then Two...