Artistic Statement

Artistic Statement

When I worked as a journalist, we used to say the best story was one that hadn’t been printed yet, but one everyone already knew was true. The sort of story that was too toxic or tragic or tantalizing for anyone to get too close to. As a playwright, I want to tell stories we know are true – no matter how private or painful.

I allow my characters the freedom to say what everyone is thinking, no matter the cost. I’m a former newspaper reporter who knocked on doors of accused criminals and alleged victims, searching for answers to questions that few people wanted to hear.

Now I write scripts for stage and screen that draw on my experiences working as a journalist, one that taught me there is a fascinating territory between the extremes of right and wrong, innocent or guilty. And that revealing secrets—secret prejudices, crimes, crushes and fears—is the real work of storytelling. I write about the universal truths of loss and grief and blame, and I make no apologies for a certain level of homicide humor used to help soften the blows.

In Rabbit Hunting at Dawn¸ set in Arkansas, journalist Dylan Yates struggles in her role as an objective observer, covering yet another school shooting in an unrelenting media environment. Near a breaking point from the stress of covering trauma, Dylan comes right up against the fear that her own son will go off to school one day and wind up in a pool of blood, and searches for someone to blame.

I want to choke audiences with emotion, but hope they might bust a gut laughing while their hearts are getting yanked out. I hope people can see themselves, on any given day, in each of my characters, even if they’re reluctant to admit it.