Playwriting

Below is my Artist's Statement.  Please follow the above link to see synopses of my plays as well as photographs from recent productions.

Artist's Statement

            We live in a consumption-based culture.  Warranties are hocked at every turn.  What used to be an obvious con, like the car salesman’s undercoating, might not be so easily dismissible today.  Hundreds of dollars are spent on all manner of electronics – cell phones, blackberries, ipods, computers – that don’t last two years before they malfunction, if they don’t become obsolete first.  We buy and consume.  The faster we consume, the sooner we can buy again.  Is theatre relevant in such a world?  Can it be?

            As a playwright and theatre professional I believe the theatre needs to work both with and against this rampant consumerism.  To completely give in to it means that plays will become nothing more than mere commodity to be eaten and spit out before ever being digested.  However, theatre will not last if it is the only stone in the dam attempting to hold back the flood of consumerism.

            As a theatre artist, I want to hearken back to the good ol’ days, where craftsmen took pride in their work, and built products meant to last a lifetime.  I strive to create plays that can hold up under intense audience scrutiny.  Maybe this means holding up for years, or maybe it means that the play is sturdy enough to leave the theatre, to survive the car ride home, the severe late night critique, and if I’m really lucky, a week or two of water cooler debate.  What I don’t want is for plays to be forgettable or dismissible, because if they are we may need to start selling warranties.

            But I think it is possible to take advantage of the buy and dispose mentality.  If audiences are looking for the latest technology and the newest gadgets, why can’t we give that to them?  As an artist, I am always looking towards the new and the fresh.  Sometimes this means alerting a familiar form or style; sometimes it means developing a new one.  Frequently it means using technology itself in a production.  Multimedia forms tend to resonate with a contemporary audience.  Their manipulation of cell phones, television, and computers allows them a way into theatrical multimedia.  For them it can be another product of their times.

Then once that new product has been consumed I want to develop the latest version or a new operating system for my ideas so that audiences can be on the leading edge.  For me, this means questioning, not abandoning, the realist traditions of western theatre.  My own background in English Literature has left me very familiar with realistic theatre.  In fact, the plays that set me down the path of becoming a playwright are two from Arthur Miller. 

Despite my propensity for enjoying realistic plays, I think that there are techniques that can be experimented with that do not fit into that mold.  In my own work, I experiment with short, abrupt scenes, multimedia tools, and episodic structures.  These are devices audiences are used to seeing elsewhere, and now they are learning to watch on stage.  I am also interested in finding modes of performance with which they are not comfortable, or they do not yet know how to read.  Though I do believe that they need some way into a piece, I do not think that an audience needs to be familiar with any given work’s mode of presentation.

In the world of technology, computers, and business, the old becomes obsolete by the minute.  If audiences can learn to navigate new technology, new devices, and new systems in other realms of their lives, then they can learn to do the same for theatre.  They can learn to appreciate new styles, cutting-edge interfaces, innovative methods of presentation, and unfamiliar content and genres.  And just as technology is a product of our times, so too should our theatre be.  Only then can it stay fresh, be relevant, and leave the crowd begging for the next upgrade.