Several years ago a friend encouraged me to take an acting class, "it will help your writing," she said. When I asked what you meant she responded, "just trust me".

For the two years that I studied acting I never once thought about how it was "helping my writing". In fact, it was not until the middle of the second year that I began to realize that, even though I wasn't writing plays before I studied acting, it was all I could think about doing once I understood a play from the actor's perspective. A few years later I entered the masters program in theater at Emerson College and my play writing career began.

I always start with a line of dialogue from the character who desperately needs to tell their story. That first line is my invitation to join the characters on their journey. Then, like the actor playing a character, I listen, and try -- with everything I have in my playwright's toolbox -- to capture and bring to life the story that has been entrusted to me to tell.