I want us to notice. I grew up in a family of painters, of visual artists, and our primary source of fun was
sketching. We’d sketch on Saturdays, holidays, days off. We’d sketch on vacation, during heat waves,
and in church. While my school friends were at the movies or mall, I was having a picnic in the snow in a
graveyard doing what? Sketching. This instilled in me a need to notice and document. I find I’m doing
the same with my plays. I want us to notice. I want us to witness and bear witness to hidden human
experience. I’m making markers for lives—tombstones on unmarked graves. I want us to see how
vulnerable we all are, how we must do a better job of protecting each other, and how damned the
downward spiral can be. I write plays about people—ordinary people—in all their twisted, aggressive,
hopeless, humorous, and sad glory. Sad glory is something to notice.