Artistic Statement
←
Joshua Ford
Artistic Statement
In 2002 Theater J presented my professional debut, MIKLAT, a comedy set during the first Gulf War. The play received a nice review in the Washington Post and had a successful run, followed by a nomination for the Charles MacArthur Award for Best New Play at the Helen Hayes. My agent was also able to book productions at several theaters around the country including Florida Stage. I was officially a promising, new playwright.
And then I didn’t write another play for 10 years.
What happened?
A bunch of things. My wife and I had twins. We made the decision for Melissa (a middle school teacher with a proper MFA in fiction) to stay home as the primary caregiver and for her to work from home as a freelance writer and aspiring novelist. I figured my career already had momentum and I wanted to prioritize her writing. In order to finance that decision I took a series of promotions at work – working somewhat with Theater J, but mainly curating films, books, music, visual art and working with other creative artists – but with less and less time for my own writing. I saw my playwriting dwindle, my creative spark kept alive by occasional blog posts. I don’t regret those decisions: my wife published four books in that time and has an amazing career as a blogger and writer – and I am proud of my role in helping her to achieve that.
About two years ago I finally used some “personal and professional development” money from work to finance a trip to Memphis in order to research an idea I had for a play. That trip was the beginning of TO KILL A KING-- which brought me back to playwriting and resulted in a workshop of the play at Theater J. It allowed me to reclaim my identity as a playwright and having since left my long-time day job, it is an identity I am determined not to let slip away.
Like in TO KILL A KING, I want to write more plays that hold up a mirror to the hypocrisies and cognitive dissonance we seem unable to avoid as human beings – a tendency which is amplified to disastrous consequence by our leaders and governments. I am researching an idea for a play which brings together the NSA’s domestic spying, women in technology, white privilege and our societal attitudes toward mental illness. I also have a long-gestating idea for a play set during the funeral for Richard Nixon in 1994 – a moment of collective amnesia that clearly points the way towards the failures of our new millennium.
And then I didn’t write another play for 10 years.
What happened?
A bunch of things. My wife and I had twins. We made the decision for Melissa (a middle school teacher with a proper MFA in fiction) to stay home as the primary caregiver and for her to work from home as a freelance writer and aspiring novelist. I figured my career already had momentum and I wanted to prioritize her writing. In order to finance that decision I took a series of promotions at work – working somewhat with Theater J, but mainly curating films, books, music, visual art and working with other creative artists – but with less and less time for my own writing. I saw my playwriting dwindle, my creative spark kept alive by occasional blog posts. I don’t regret those decisions: my wife published four books in that time and has an amazing career as a blogger and writer – and I am proud of my role in helping her to achieve that.
About two years ago I finally used some “personal and professional development” money from work to finance a trip to Memphis in order to research an idea I had for a play. That trip was the beginning of TO KILL A KING-- which brought me back to playwriting and resulted in a workshop of the play at Theater J. It allowed me to reclaim my identity as a playwright and having since left my long-time day job, it is an identity I am determined not to let slip away.
Like in TO KILL A KING, I want to write more plays that hold up a mirror to the hypocrisies and cognitive dissonance we seem unable to avoid as human beings – a tendency which is amplified to disastrous consequence by our leaders and governments. I am researching an idea for a play which brings together the NSA’s domestic spying, women in technology, white privilege and our societal attitudes toward mental illness. I also have a long-gestating idea for a play set during the funeral for Richard Nixon in 1994 – a moment of collective amnesia that clearly points the way towards the failures of our new millennium.