I write about people in rural America - the poor, the disabled, people deeply affected by events beyond their control, people who get left behind, people who fall through the cracks. As a fifth-generation Ozarker with deep family ties in Oklahoma, I have seen my own culture co-opted by cynical politicians who have decimated the education system and shredded the social service safety net. White rural women, ages 25-55, are sick and dying at rates not seen since the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. In the past decade, the early death rate in rural Oklahoma has risen twice as fast as the rest of the country. The deaths are fueled by heavy drinking, drug use, and lack of access to healthcare. These people are suffering quietly and losing hope. Their stories are rarely told in any meaningful way onstage or any place else.
I have devoted my entire career to telling stories in one form or another - onstage, in newspapers, and on television. But now I feel a fresh sense of urgency. America is not the country I thought it was. We are heading in a dangerous direction. I believe that my plays matter now more than ever.