Artistic Statement
I write plays to explore history versus story; to engage right brain and left; to examine self-deceit via addiction.
When I explore the collision of history and story, the history may be personal; and it may not. The idea of Roshomon, of the different views of the same event, is rampant in my work. Whether taking Greek myths and telling them from the women’s point of view, telling the tale of a young girl whose misunderstanding of one moment completely alters the course of her life, or a young woman on a quest to learn her own history.
As with many playwrights, I began my career as an actor, but unlike the others, I shifted to directing for the next couple decades. While directing I needed an outlet that used the same amount of passion, but was more flexible with my time. This led me to playwrighting, for which I’m grateful. Now I’ve spent over 20 years engaging my right brain with improvising and writing plays while simultaneously engaging my left brain with public health and databases. I try to join the two whenever possible. What is the science behind the story? What is the story behind the science?
My characters deceive themselves, most blatantly through addiction: addiction to drugs, video games, love, porn, i.e., whatever grabs them and disallows their brains to see the truth. They engage in these distractions of choice to numb the experience of being present, to be somewhere else. Being elsewhere impacts those around them. They wreak havoc on the lives of their loved ones who never get to know the true person. I excavate the ugliness they are trying to hide with their addiction. It is my belief that these distractions are at the center of our societal ills. If we aren’t present, then we don’t have to see the horror of what is happening right in front of us.
When I explore the collision of history and story, the history may be personal; and it may not. The idea of Roshomon, of the different views of the same event, is rampant in my work. Whether taking Greek myths and telling them from the women’s point of view, telling the tale of a young girl whose misunderstanding of one moment completely alters the course of her life, or a young woman on a quest to learn her own history.
As with many playwrights, I began my career as an actor, but unlike the others, I shifted to directing for the next couple decades. While directing I needed an outlet that used the same amount of passion, but was more flexible with my time. This led me to playwrighting, for which I’m grateful. Now I’ve spent over 20 years engaging my right brain with improvising and writing plays while simultaneously engaging my left brain with public health and databases. I try to join the two whenever possible. What is the science behind the story? What is the story behind the science?
My characters deceive themselves, most blatantly through addiction: addiction to drugs, video games, love, porn, i.e., whatever grabs them and disallows their brains to see the truth. They engage in these distractions of choice to numb the experience of being present, to be somewhere else. Being elsewhere impacts those around them. They wreak havoc on the lives of their loved ones who never get to know the true person. I excavate the ugliness they are trying to hide with their addiction. It is my belief that these distractions are at the center of our societal ills. If we aren’t present, then we don’t have to see the horror of what is happening right in front of us.
←
Lennox Soderberg
Artistic Statement
I write plays to explore history versus story; to engage right brain and left; to examine self-deceit via addiction.
When I explore the collision of history and story, the history may be personal; and it may not. The idea of Roshomon, of the different views of the same event, is rampant in my work. Whether taking Greek myths and telling them from the women’s point of view, telling the tale of a young girl whose misunderstanding of one moment completely alters the course of her life, or a young woman on a quest to learn her own history.
As with many playwrights, I began my career as an actor, but unlike the others, I shifted to directing for the next couple decades. While directing I needed an outlet that used the same amount of passion, but was more flexible with my time. This led me to playwrighting, for which I’m grateful. Now I’ve spent over 20 years engaging my right brain with improvising and writing plays while simultaneously engaging my left brain with public health and databases. I try to join the two whenever possible. What is the science behind the story? What is the story behind the science?
My characters deceive themselves, most blatantly through addiction: addiction to drugs, video games, love, porn, i.e., whatever grabs them and disallows their brains to see the truth. They engage in these distractions of choice to numb the experience of being present, to be somewhere else. Being elsewhere impacts those around them. They wreak havoc on the lives of their loved ones who never get to know the true person. I excavate the ugliness they are trying to hide with their addiction. It is my belief that these distractions are at the center of our societal ills. If we aren’t present, then we don’t have to see the horror of what is happening right in front of us.
When I explore the collision of history and story, the history may be personal; and it may not. The idea of Roshomon, of the different views of the same event, is rampant in my work. Whether taking Greek myths and telling them from the women’s point of view, telling the tale of a young girl whose misunderstanding of one moment completely alters the course of her life, or a young woman on a quest to learn her own history.
As with many playwrights, I began my career as an actor, but unlike the others, I shifted to directing for the next couple decades. While directing I needed an outlet that used the same amount of passion, but was more flexible with my time. This led me to playwrighting, for which I’m grateful. Now I’ve spent over 20 years engaging my right brain with improvising and writing plays while simultaneously engaging my left brain with public health and databases. I try to join the two whenever possible. What is the science behind the story? What is the story behind the science?
My characters deceive themselves, most blatantly through addiction: addiction to drugs, video games, love, porn, i.e., whatever grabs them and disallows their brains to see the truth. They engage in these distractions of choice to numb the experience of being present, to be somewhere else. Being elsewhere impacts those around them. They wreak havoc on the lives of their loved ones who never get to know the true person. I excavate the ugliness they are trying to hide with their addiction. It is my belief that these distractions are at the center of our societal ills. If we aren’t present, then we don’t have to see the horror of what is happening right in front of us.