Artistic Statement
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Sarah Lawrence
Artistic Statement
I have always been drawn to big, whopping yarns that explore great moral truths, especially when set against the panoply of history. My favorite plays and musicals include The Crucible, A Man for All Seasons, Lion in Winter, Amadeus, Man of La Mancha, Oliver!, Parade, Evita, Inherit the Wind, Ragtime, Les Miserables, and more recently Hamilton.
My very first play, Liberty (1994) was about Sarah Henry, wife of the famous patriot Patrick Henry, who died in a strait jacket in the basement of their Virginia plantation about the same time he made his historic speech, “Give me liberty or give me death!” That play went on to win the Southern Playwrights Competition and was a finalist in seven others. It went on to be a finalist at the American College Theater Festival with a production in the Kennedy Center.
I have always been drawn to big stories and, truth be told, I don’t choose them, they choose me. They haunt my dreams and run me down until I commit them to paper. In my early writing career, I wrote books. In the mid 1990s, I came across a great story that I felt could only be expressed as a piece of theater (Liberty referenced above). Since that day, I firmly believe that theater, with its unique living bridge between artists and audience, is the best artistic medium to preserve, share and learn from great stories.
I love to unearth fascinating, true yet untold stories from history. My last two stageplays, written in the past twelve months are examples. Duende tells the story of the greatest living flamenco duo at the end of their lives, recreating the heyday of flamenco set against the backdrop of Francisco Franco’s Spain. Bibo and Bertie explores the last year of Albert (Bertie) Einstein’s life. For his 75th birthday, someone sent him an African grey parrot named Bibo that became his constant companion during a year when he struggled with tremendous guilt over nuclear proliferation, his failure to solve his lifelong quest for the elusive “theory of everything,” and his past failed relationships (true story!).
My very first play, Liberty (1994) was about Sarah Henry, wife of the famous patriot Patrick Henry, who died in a strait jacket in the basement of their Virginia plantation about the same time he made his historic speech, “Give me liberty or give me death!” That play went on to win the Southern Playwrights Competition and was a finalist in seven others. It went on to be a finalist at the American College Theater Festival with a production in the Kennedy Center.
I have always been drawn to big stories and, truth be told, I don’t choose them, they choose me. They haunt my dreams and run me down until I commit them to paper. In my early writing career, I wrote books. In the mid 1990s, I came across a great story that I felt could only be expressed as a piece of theater (Liberty referenced above). Since that day, I firmly believe that theater, with its unique living bridge between artists and audience, is the best artistic medium to preserve, share and learn from great stories.
I love to unearth fascinating, true yet untold stories from history. My last two stageplays, written in the past twelve months are examples. Duende tells the story of the greatest living flamenco duo at the end of their lives, recreating the heyday of flamenco set against the backdrop of Francisco Franco’s Spain. Bibo and Bertie explores the last year of Albert (Bertie) Einstein’s life. For his 75th birthday, someone sent him an African grey parrot named Bibo that became his constant companion during a year when he struggled with tremendous guilt over nuclear proliferation, his failure to solve his lifelong quest for the elusive “theory of everything,” and his past failed relationships (true story!).