More in ‘Wallace Shawn’

“I believe that people are what happened to their grandparents,” Deborah Eisenberg says, sitting and drinking tea in the sunny front room of the fifth-floor Chelsea walk-up she shares with her long-time partner, the actor and playwright Wallace Shawn. Behind her, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves showcase a lifetime of reading; through the window, sounds of traffic—buses, an ...

Wallace Shawn may recently have become eligible for Social Security, but the 65-year-old writer and actor shows no signs of slowing down. His latest play, Grasses of a Thousand Colors, had its London premiere in May; he has a recurring role on the hit TV series Gossip Girl; and a collection of his nonfiction, Essays, was just released this week. Tablet Magazine recently spoke to Shawn about his youthful ambitions, Judaism’s place in his life and work; and how Gossip Girl may be the key to Mideast peace.