Artistic Statement

When I desperately need to know more about something, I write a play about it.

Curiosity is my most valued tool as a playwright; it guides me towards stories that haven’t been told and perspectives which I long to understand. My work engages with literature, myth, and history, exploring how the stories we think we know resonate in our present, and how our beliefs about ourselves and each other are influenced by the narratives we’ve received.

I’m interested in how form and content impact one another. My plays are often experiments with structure, where the content of the story determines the form, or the constraints of a particular form change the narrative. My plays all look and sound different from each other because their stories require different shapes, rhythms, and styles. (It also makes them fun to write.)
I’m interested in the power dialogue has to propel a story; how rhythm, silence, and the right words at the right moment can crack a character open.

I’m interested in contradiction, nuance, and moral ambiguity. To this end, my plays are driven by character and dialogue, which allows multiple perspectives and experiences to coexist with equal weight and honesty. Because I’m influenced by Talmudic thought, my writing reflects the beliefs that learning is a communal act, and that thoughtful interrogation and debate between a multitude of voices provides insight and understanding that’s deeper than any individual could find on their own. A play is like a Talmudic question to me; a bid for understanding, a desire to make meaning. It’s a request. It’s a way of reaching out and seeking.

Jillian Blevins

Artistic Statement

When I desperately need to know more about something, I write a play about it.

Curiosity is my most valued tool as a playwright; it guides me towards stories that haven’t been told and perspectives which I long to understand. My work engages with literature, myth, and history, exploring how the stories we think we know resonate in our present, and how our beliefs about ourselves and each other are influenced by the narratives we’ve received.

I’m interested in how form and content impact one another. My plays are often experiments with structure, where the content of the story determines the form, or the constraints of a particular form change the narrative. My plays all look and sound different from each other because their stories require different shapes, rhythms, and styles. (It also makes them fun to write.)
I’m interested in the power dialogue has to propel a story; how rhythm, silence, and the right words at the right moment can crack a character open.

I’m interested in contradiction, nuance, and moral ambiguity. To this end, my plays are driven by character and dialogue, which allows multiple perspectives and experiences to coexist with equal weight and honesty. Because I’m influenced by Talmudic thought, my writing reflects the beliefs that learning is a communal act, and that thoughtful interrogation and debate between a multitude of voices provides insight and understanding that’s deeper than any individual could find on their own. A play is like a Talmudic question to me; a bid for understanding, a desire to make meaning. It’s a request. It’s a way of reaching out and seeking.