ARTIST'S STATEMENT

QUESTION/ISSUE

After working toward writing a play about the writing process, the Corona virus sent students, professionals, and everyone back to their homes isolated from one another. Yet expected to keep working in new environments with new challenges the world has never faced before.  I set out to ask how can we keep moving forward when it seems the world around us is stopped. Art comes from a place of emotion and in times of crisis what else can we create besides work around what we are dealing with. This piece is meant to be a one person play that can be done on stage or through online resources. And relates to current events many professional writers in the theatre community are tackling right now.

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HISTORY AND DISTINCTION​

Before switching my piece entirely I had read lots of plays, lots of plays that used unconventional methods to tell things that through dialogue alone can seem mundane. Like work by Taylor Mac's Hir And this theatrical element is included in the current piece. One Woman or One man plays appear on and off broadway now and again I was most drawn to the idea by Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith. Drawing from both of these I set out to make a play that could be easy and presentable on stage and online through video.

​APPROACH

After deciding to completely switch directions nearing the deadline I had to simplify. After brainstorming for a new angle I set out to write a page or two. With an established opening and some directionality I looked into what story I wanted to tell and how to guide the play in that direction through lots of freewriting and ruminating. I decided where I wanted to end and sat down to write. With short plays I like to write them in one go so I read through my previous pages and let whatever stuck stay and push to the ending. After some read throughs and revising I was happy where I had gotten.

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AUDIENCE/IMPACT

This play is written for anyone trying to understand or connect with the struggles people are facing in our world right but my not say out loud. For people in similar situations, people who were in similar situations, and people who may not understand what others are struggling with. This is play contains the things I haven't told anyone about how I've been feeling and hopefully sharing my story will help others.

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REFERENCES

Mac, Taylor. Hir. Oberon Books, 2017.

Smith, Anna Deavere. Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities. Dramatists Play Service, 1997.​

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Harold F. Burgess Advisor

Heather-Erin Bremenstuhl Instructor

Jennifer Barclay TDPS Playwriting Instructor