When I was in 8th grade, I dated a girl for a week who had convinced me she was a werewolf.

I give my younger self grace and chalk it up to a willingness to suspend my disbelief, but it makes sense in hindsight why I had leaned into the idea. I love horror. I also love folklore and absurdism. I love creepy or abnormal tales of different worlds, be they populated by monsters or mundane existentialism. I’ve related to these stories and learned more from them about humanity and our society compared to any “realistic” drama.

Where realism comes into play for me is in the characters. I thrive on characters reacting realistically to unrealistic situations, and I treat plays and their worldbuilding with rigid logic and earnestness. My work often explores loss in some form, and what happens to those of us left behind. Also: cycles of violence, bureaucracy, identity, hope. I’m trying to eat less meat, but the plays love blood and a well-placed curse (word or hex). They have sharp teeth.

Theatre can be anything. Including your favorite kind of story. It took me a little longer than I liked to learn that, however. So just in case anybody’s out here chasing that magic feeling by dating a werewolf instead of doing theatre, I’m here to tell you, “Do both.”


A SIDE-THOUGHT:
Every story we ever tell together
Will never be done the exact same way with the exact same people ever again
It becomes uniquely ours

I think that’s something quite special.