Artistic Statement
Above all, I’m a proponent of theatre that is LARGER THAN LIFE!!! I believe in absurdity with a purpose. I believe in plays that use genre, wackiness, a heightened world, or all of the above to blow up something from our real world and let us see it more clearly. By heightening the circumstances of a play, it allows us to comment on truths about the world with even more clarity and opinion attached, and can illuminate a possible path forward in this messed up, unfair real world of ours. You can see realism in real life. You can’t see teenage demons or a six-foot-tall trout with legs or dryads or talking lesbian penguins in real life. I’m attracted to spectacle. I’m attracted to absurdity. And I’m attracted to the big thematic picture, especially when it has to do with young people, the Asian-American community, queerness, and rebellion.
I’m adamant about the importance of collaboration to making anything. I believe in theatre which gives everyone in the room a voice, and the ability to help shape a play. The playwright may be writing the play, and the director may be directing the play, but the actors are creating the characters! The designers are creating the atmosphere! The creation of a play should be the joyful collaboration between all of these people. My most rewarding theatrical experiences thus far have come about in rooms with non-hierarchical structures, and in rooms which incorporated aspects of devising into the development of a new play.
Something I find empowering about being an artist is the ability to create the world I’d like to see. For me, this means a world with playfulness, joy, triumph, and rebellion. This means centering young characters who have agency. I want to see college students who take on their institutions. I want to see the twelve-year-old who saves the world in the apocalypse. I want to see the first grader who learns to express themself in their own way. Part of creating the world I want to see is giving my characters a happy(ish) ending. I’ve decided I’m sorta done with depressing plays which are meant to show how ~society~ beats marginalized communities into defeat. Society does do that, but if you are the playwright, you have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a world where you can change that. You can still write a play that sheds light on serious real-world issues, and imagine how your character could WIN in the end this time. Why would you let the bad guys win if you control the world?
I’m adamant about the importance of collaboration to making anything. I believe in theatre which gives everyone in the room a voice, and the ability to help shape a play. The playwright may be writing the play, and the director may be directing the play, but the actors are creating the characters! The designers are creating the atmosphere! The creation of a play should be the joyful collaboration between all of these people. My most rewarding theatrical experiences thus far have come about in rooms with non-hierarchical structures, and in rooms which incorporated aspects of devising into the development of a new play.
Something I find empowering about being an artist is the ability to create the world I’d like to see. For me, this means a world with playfulness, joy, triumph, and rebellion. This means centering young characters who have agency. I want to see college students who take on their institutions. I want to see the twelve-year-old who saves the world in the apocalypse. I want to see the first grader who learns to express themself in their own way. Part of creating the world I want to see is giving my characters a happy(ish) ending. I’ve decided I’m sorta done with depressing plays which are meant to show how ~society~ beats marginalized communities into defeat. Society does do that, but if you are the playwright, you have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a world where you can change that. You can still write a play that sheds light on serious real-world issues, and imagine how your character could WIN in the end this time. Why would you let the bad guys win if you control the world?
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Juliet Kang Huneke
Artistic Statement
Above all, I’m a proponent of theatre that is LARGER THAN LIFE!!! I believe in absurdity with a purpose. I believe in plays that use genre, wackiness, a heightened world, or all of the above to blow up something from our real world and let us see it more clearly. By heightening the circumstances of a play, it allows us to comment on truths about the world with even more clarity and opinion attached, and can illuminate a possible path forward in this messed up, unfair real world of ours. You can see realism in real life. You can’t see teenage demons or a six-foot-tall trout with legs or dryads or talking lesbian penguins in real life. I’m attracted to spectacle. I’m attracted to absurdity. And I’m attracted to the big thematic picture, especially when it has to do with young people, the Asian-American community, queerness, and rebellion.
I’m adamant about the importance of collaboration to making anything. I believe in theatre which gives everyone in the room a voice, and the ability to help shape a play. The playwright may be writing the play, and the director may be directing the play, but the actors are creating the characters! The designers are creating the atmosphere! The creation of a play should be the joyful collaboration between all of these people. My most rewarding theatrical experiences thus far have come about in rooms with non-hierarchical structures, and in rooms which incorporated aspects of devising into the development of a new play.
Something I find empowering about being an artist is the ability to create the world I’d like to see. For me, this means a world with playfulness, joy, triumph, and rebellion. This means centering young characters who have agency. I want to see college students who take on their institutions. I want to see the twelve-year-old who saves the world in the apocalypse. I want to see the first grader who learns to express themself in their own way. Part of creating the world I want to see is giving my characters a happy(ish) ending. I’ve decided I’m sorta done with depressing plays which are meant to show how ~society~ beats marginalized communities into defeat. Society does do that, but if you are the playwright, you have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a world where you can change that. You can still write a play that sheds light on serious real-world issues, and imagine how your character could WIN in the end this time. Why would you let the bad guys win if you control the world?
I’m adamant about the importance of collaboration to making anything. I believe in theatre which gives everyone in the room a voice, and the ability to help shape a play. The playwright may be writing the play, and the director may be directing the play, but the actors are creating the characters! The designers are creating the atmosphere! The creation of a play should be the joyful collaboration between all of these people. My most rewarding theatrical experiences thus far have come about in rooms with non-hierarchical structures, and in rooms which incorporated aspects of devising into the development of a new play.
Something I find empowering about being an artist is the ability to create the world I’d like to see. For me, this means a world with playfulness, joy, triumph, and rebellion. This means centering young characters who have agency. I want to see college students who take on their institutions. I want to see the twelve-year-old who saves the world in the apocalypse. I want to see the first grader who learns to express themself in their own way. Part of creating the world I want to see is giving my characters a happy(ish) ending. I’ve decided I’m sorta done with depressing plays which are meant to show how ~society~ beats marginalized communities into defeat. Society does do that, but if you are the playwright, you have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a world where you can change that. You can still write a play that sheds light on serious real-world issues, and imagine how your character could WIN in the end this time. Why would you let the bad guys win if you control the world?