I am someone who grew up loving Mythology, especially unicorns. I think one of the reasons I loved the 1980s cartoon She-Ra: Princess Of Power was because her trusted steed horse Spirit, turned into the mythological unicorn, Swift Wind, whenever She-Ra went from Adora to the crime-fighting She-Ra.

I loved unicorns so much that when the circus came to town one year, it was being advertised that they were going to feature a real life unicorn. I was so excited that my parents took me to see it. In fact, I remember buying the stuffed animal unicorn because I believed it had magical powers. I held onto that stuffed animal long into my 20s.

All of this is to say that when I received the press release for Playwright Catherine Weingarten's I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!, I knew I had to get an interview with her! I think I said something like, Unicorns & Frappe's Oh My 😂

In this interview, Catherine answered my call to share:

• Her inspirations to become a writer & playwright
• What she hopes audiences feel & question after seeing I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!
• Why she loves adding extra letters in her titles & how it reflects her voice and characters
• The most difficult scene in the play to write and why it challenged her as a comedic playwright
• New insights she gained about wedding culture, addiction & societal pressure on women while writing the show
• A time when something she was excited about wasn’t met with the enthusiasm she expected
• So much more

Connect with Catherine: Website, Instagram

I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!, an angsty girly comedy, will be making its world premiere this spring at The Tank in NYC as part of New Georges’ Supported Productions program, in which New Georges provides mentorship and an institutional platform to its affiliated artists who are producing their work independently.

In I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!, Jenny just got engaged and she's very very excited although her fiancé doesn't seem to want to help plan the wedding or talk to her. But when a Prince on a unicorn offers Jenny some sexy solace, maybe things will work out ok? I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!! is a frothy satire about wedding culture, addiction, societal pressure on women, and just how far we will go to avoid the truth.

I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!  will play at The Tank NYC from May 28, 2026-June 21, 2026. Click Here for Tickets!

Catherine Weingarten's plays available as books
The World Is Ending, I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!
Photo Courtesy of Catherine Weingarten's Social Media

1. Who or what inspired you to become a writer/playwright? Ever since I was a kid I loved the power of language as a tool of self expression. I used to make up my own words because it was just fun.

In terms of being a playwright, I saw a short play by Christopher Durang, Dentity Crisis, at my summer camp in New Jersey, and it just made me fall in love with how plays can be funny, true, and just very unique to the writer.

2. Your new play, I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!! will be coming to The Tank in NYC at the end of May. The show is part of New Georges’ Supported Productions Program. How do you feel this program has helped you as a playwright? Susan at New Georges has been incredibly helpful as a mentor and specifically, with this piece, she has been a great sounding board when it comes to marketing advice and assembling my team.

Even from the very start when I was nervous about producing my own work she encouraged me to take the risk and just put my work out there. I don't self produce a ton so it means a lot to have such an established and cutting edge company be there for advice when it comes to getting the show up and running.

3. What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!? I hope audiences have laughed, felt angsty and gone on a feminine journey through the wedding industrial complex. I hope they start to question in general how we portray our relationships vs how one feels inside of them. I love using satire to poke holes at societal pressure placed on women.

4. I noticed in a lot of your writing, whether in your play titles like I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!, or on your website, you add extra letters. What does that symbolize in your style of writing? I love this question!

I think sometimes my characters are just a bit perkier than normal characters and this title is referencing the main character Jenny and how she just really wants the limited edition Unicorn Frappe and that idea can't be contained with just a normal amount of letters.

Other thoughts - An early influence of mine is e.e cummings and I love how he distorts language to capture a feeling or sensation.

As a writer I like using language to find the comedy in rhythm and really capture how my characters talk.

5. How did you come up with the title for I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!? If you are able to look at the script, each scene title is written in the main character's voice and references wanting a Unicorn Frappe - so it originated out of that. This character is addicted to this special Frappe and that's a core idea of the piece.

Catherine Weingarten outside a developmental run
of I Wanttt a Unicorn Frappe!!!
Photo Courtesy of Catherine Weingarten's Social Media

6. What was the hardest scene for you to write & why was it so hard? No spoilers! But there is a scene towards the end with Jenny and her fiance, and she tries to get him to play the board game Life to figure out what's been going on between them and why he's been so evasive.

As a comedic playwright, I sometimes avoid those conflicts and darker moments, so it took a few drafts to give myself permission to just really let her interrogate him, even if it was difficult.

I am glad I was able to go to that place because even under this comedic play, there's a lot of vulnerability and pent up anger that needed to come out.

7. What did you learn about the themes of the show (wedding culture, addiction, societal pressure on women) as you were writing this play that you didn't know beforehand? Trying to make things seem perfect can drive you crazy. Wedding pressure can swallow you whole, even if you don't want to be "that bride", it might sneak up on you in other ways.

8. According to press notes, at some point during the show, a Prince on a unicorn offers Jenny some sexy solace after Jenny's fiancé doesn't want to help her plan their wedding or talk to her. When has there ever been a time in your life when you were tempted to stray from what you really wanted by a "prince on a unicorn"? haha. I have had experiences where I went out with someone and they were too good to be true then ghosted me - so that feels kinda in conversation with that. Mythical yet relatable.

Catherine Weingarten's Wedding
Photo Courtesy of Catherine Weingarten's Social Media

9. What is an exciting event that you've had that was not met with the same enthusiasm as you had hoped, similar to Jenny's excitement over her wedding & her fiancé's avoidance? I get pretty hyped for my birthday each year, and I have had a lot of exes, and my current husband can be less than enthused.

What?! You don't want to buy me a tiara and bake me a three course vanilla cake with real roses on top? I think I've gotten to the point where I need to create the birthday I want for myself and stop waiting for a guy to dazzle me and get like Justin Bieber to serenade me on a unicorn to sing me happy birthday.

10. What is something we didn't get to talk about in this interview that you'd like my audience to know about you? I have a major sweet tooth and it inspires a lot of my writing. If you're ever looking for me around town, I'm probably in a local Schmackary's or Magnolias.

Catherine Weingarten

More on Catherine Weingarten:

Catherine Weingarten is a friendly Jewish chick from an obscure area of Pennsylvania!

Honors Include: the Scott McPherson Award and the Tennessee Williams Scholarship through the Sewanee Writer’s Conference.

She is a New Georges Affiliated Artist and has previously developed her girly, trashy work with Dixon Place, The Tank, Less Than Rent, Sam French OOB Short Play Festival, Last Frontier Theater Conference and has been awarded residencies through Bethany Arts Community, The Studios of Key West, Fresh Ground Pepper’s BRB and Monson Arts.

Catherine's plays use comedy to comment upon the societal pressures young women face to be impossibly good-looking as well as ridiculously humble, kind as can be, but also sexy ;) In her work she aims to create a feminine world where young women are at the forefront, and heartbreak and feminine expectations are fully explored.

As a playwright, Catherine is pretty inspired by the trashiest (in a fun way!) things you can think of: fruit loops, bikinis, angst, obscure diets and topics such as that. She loves taking joyous, loud subject material and making plays that are a bit too fun to be seen in the theater.

But with her work, there’s something freakier, deeper or more challenging at the center of the play like questioning whether we can ever communicate with one another or if it’s possible to escape our diet culture.

She loves taking two disparate things, putting them next to each other and seeing what happens, like doing science while drunk!

Catherine has participated in Art House Production’s INKubator Writer’s Group, New Perspective’s Women’s Work Short Play Lab and The Shelter’s Virtual King Lear project.

BA: Bennington College MFA: Ohio University

__________________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed reading, watching or listening this interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it.

Be sure to share it with your friends on your social media.

Do you struggle with staying on top of posting to your socials? I found the easy button for scheduling my social media posts.

Post Planner is an incredible social media scheduler. It is very user friendly. It has saved me several hours a week & given me a sigh of relief that I don't need to work on my social media everyday.

Find out more about this game changing tool & how you can save 25% or more by using my affiliate link here.