My job is akin to organizing a haunted house. The audience comes to my cornfield, and I direct them where to enter. I plant surprises, keep them moving, and hope when they appear on the other end they are charged up, electrified by the experience.

This endeavor of planning and creating experience for groups of people moves beyond “playwriting.” Audiences are my partners. Thinking about my plays as stage directions and collections of dialogue narrows my focus and limits my ability to see my true partners. If I write a play and it sits in a drawer, did I ever write a play?

Without audience, I have no theatre. I have no play.

The audience are my most important collaborators. I endeavor to respect my audience's intelligence, trust them to make leaps, and cherish their contribution to the making of the play.