Artistic Statement

Artistic Statement

As a theatre artist focused on examining painful issues through a comic lens, I write plays and musicals that satirize truths that may be hidden from the public eye. A continuing theme for me, explored in many of my plays, is the folly and irresponsibility of markets. Markets are profoundly revealing, because they establish what is “valuable” in our culture, as well as what ---and who--- has been commoditized. I have explored in my full length plays the financial markets, the fine arts market, the market for pharmaceuticals, the market for international brides, and the market for Confederate memorabilia.

I write from a feminist point of view. Ever since I saw King Lear in Saratoga, CA at the age of 13 --- and loved it as “the play about the wronged daughter” --- I have been compelled to tell women-centered stories. My plays put women characters center stage, providing plum roles for women actors. To date, I have written two all-women plays, and all of my full-lengths feature women protagonists.

With careful attention to exposing the skewed values of markets, and to telling women’s stories, I use my plays to create in the theatre a modern day agora: a thriving gathering place for art, introspection, discussion, and laughter.

My values of laughter, candor, artistic excellence, determination, integrity, generosity, and feminism form the foundation of my mission: to harness the power of laughter and candor to entertain and provoke audiences. I tell women-centered stories that satirize present-day values and markets, while celebrating the intrinsic and real value of human beings. My Subversive Intent is to get people laughing, to get them to wonder why the hell they are laughing, and, in turn, to encourage them to question existing norms, values, and beliefs.