Artistic Statement
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Wendy Ewan
Artistic Statement
I write magical realism, absurdism, dramedy. “Fish out of water” is my go to source of internal and external conflict. I love the angst of teenagers and their parents. Ghosts and angels sometimes visit my characters as if it’s normal. I’m obsessed with ’80s period pieces and the parallels between the Reagan decade and the current ultra-conservative climate in the U.S. and around the world. I strive to build bridges instead of walls, to explore identity without creating enemies or pointing fingers. I create an invitation with each piece; come to my party and meet new people whom you wouldn’t normally interact with. You might just find a new friend sitting next to you.
Most of my stories are led by strong, if flawed, female protagonists. They are usually constructed from the shavings of personal experiences or as a reaction to injustices that grate on me. My characters resemble the diversity around me within my house, in my neighborhood, in the cities I’ve called home, especially Santa Fe and Los Angeles. I write about family, love, loss, labels, what it means to be an American. THE UNDESIRABLES is a dystopian tale of immigration and deportation seen through the lens of three cultures and three generations. LAND OF ENCHANTMENT is the third in a series of five “New Mexico plays,” which are also being adapted to film. It deals with the complications of both teenage and adult romantic love, and struggles with the question of how to survive the death of a loved one, all accompanied by a live Flamenco, Ranchero, rock and punk “soundtrack.” GREY GIRL and THE GUARDIANS both tangle with the politics of inter-racial relationships and the responsibility of all of us to create a safe space for one another. As the great man said, “all we need is love.”
I love the collaboration intrinsic to writing for the stage, the fact that you can type words on a page, then experience them come to life through actors’ flesh, tears, breath, voice. It’s magic. I also write for film and TV; the visual nature of the medium pairs well with my love of writing vivid imagery. I combine elements of both in my stage work. I am committed to the fight for theatre’s survival by making my plays attractive to young (and old), technology-addicted audiences with short attention spans through writing honest and complicated characters, embracing spectacle and wonder, and employing multi-media. I thoroughly enjoy the consolidated space of the short play as well as the full-length form, because it forces me to be concise and to make my stories truly athletic. Ten-minute and one-act plays also allow the perfect opportunity to create exciting theatre at site-specific locations where people who normally don’t go to the theatre have access to it, don’t have time to get bored, and might even find themselves converted to a different, or additional, kind of church at the end of the day.
Most of my stories are led by strong, if flawed, female protagonists. They are usually constructed from the shavings of personal experiences or as a reaction to injustices that grate on me. My characters resemble the diversity around me within my house, in my neighborhood, in the cities I’ve called home, especially Santa Fe and Los Angeles. I write about family, love, loss, labels, what it means to be an American. THE UNDESIRABLES is a dystopian tale of immigration and deportation seen through the lens of three cultures and three generations. LAND OF ENCHANTMENT is the third in a series of five “New Mexico plays,” which are also being adapted to film. It deals with the complications of both teenage and adult romantic love, and struggles with the question of how to survive the death of a loved one, all accompanied by a live Flamenco, Ranchero, rock and punk “soundtrack.” GREY GIRL and THE GUARDIANS both tangle with the politics of inter-racial relationships and the responsibility of all of us to create a safe space for one another. As the great man said, “all we need is love.”
I love the collaboration intrinsic to writing for the stage, the fact that you can type words on a page, then experience them come to life through actors’ flesh, tears, breath, voice. It’s magic. I also write for film and TV; the visual nature of the medium pairs well with my love of writing vivid imagery. I combine elements of both in my stage work. I am committed to the fight for theatre’s survival by making my plays attractive to young (and old), technology-addicted audiences with short attention spans through writing honest and complicated characters, embracing spectacle and wonder, and employing multi-media. I thoroughly enjoy the consolidated space of the short play as well as the full-length form, because it forces me to be concise and to make my stories truly athletic. Ten-minute and one-act plays also allow the perfect opportunity to create exciting theatre at site-specific locations where people who normally don’t go to the theatre have access to it, don’t have time to get bored, and might even find themselves converted to a different, or additional, kind of church at the end of the day.