I am driven to tell stories that will make people feel, to question, to churn them up, to reevaluate their perspectives. I strive for authenticity, for raw honesty, for sincerity.

When I started writing, people were consistently telling me to get out of my head. This meant little to me. Having been raised on film and television, I felt that preplanning and outlining and knowing all the answers was the way to write. I did not really understand what people were saying to me until Mark Schultz said “get out of your head” as such: “I want you to be free in your writing.” And finally it clicked. What Mark was essentially saying to me was that the play and your characters should take over. Should guide you. And will tell you when a plot point should happen rather than I, as the playwright, imposing it on the play. That the best moments in plays are the ones that are discovered when the characters and the writer’s subconscious take over. Something that never will happen if you approach everything set in its ways and thought out completely. This one conversation a number of years ago has fundamentally changed the way I approach writing and occurred solely because of having the opportunity to work with and befriend Mark.

My work is focused on giving voice to the voiceless and often charts into territory that people might find difficult, controversial, and/or uncomfortable - disability and sexuality (TRANQUIL), transgendered children (MERMAID(S)), the systemic oppression of football, the sugar cane fields, and the coast on a 1980s African-American community (COTTONTAIL), and the military injury of castration by IED (PAPER CUT).

Lastly, for me, I feel that being a member of a community is incredibly important to my growth as an artist. It is about supporting the work, challenging each other, and making one another better artists, better people. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for the support of others.