Theatre is a tool
a weapon
a beautiful knife
subtle
crude
each moment
rough and ready and alive.
“This is who I am.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah!”
“Well this is who I am.”
Theatre leads us to a vision
of what
those in conflict can do.

My theatre provokes
“Well, what are you going to do?”
Here.
Now.
In this moment
no longer just an audience
but also the artist.
Go on
do something.

That’s where theatre as a noun
becomes the verb
to play
with the messy reality of
big problems
no longer on stage
but between us.

I write fast
I do deep research
I write best in a room with
those who make what they imagine.
That is how I define Artist.

I usually start with a question
What happens if
But I'm not the beginning.
A community is.
People connected over an immediate subject
but they are not on the same
page
side
but they have to share space
because my theatre is
a moment
together
in conflict
reaching for a vision of what these people, and that place can become
in spite
despite
of this tension.

I’m good at synthesizing complex information
being silly
asking questions
not being afraid of mistakes
loving other people’s creativity
asking more questions
sitting back
waiting
listening
listening again
suggesting a prompt
letting go of the prompt if it
doesn’t speak to my collaborators
being a collaborator
seeing anyone and everyone as a collaborator
an artist
envisioning change
saying no
saying yes
saying, but why?
Again with the questions.

What happens if
That’s my theatre.


*This statement was written with the support of Emma Goldman-Sherman and they're Artistic Statement Seminar*