Q: How did you get into playwriting?
A: I began writing plays in 2018, as a tool to help my dialogue and story in my screenplay, A Weathering.

Q: When you’re writing, what does an ideal day look like to you?
A: I’m an early bird, so an ideal writing day begins with coffee outside and taking in all the wonder of nature. Being surrounded by such beauty allows me to really sit in what has been created for us. This in turn allows me to transfer my awe onto the page.

Q: How do you define your creative process as a playwright?
A: I define my creative process as a playwright as one where I have let the characters talk it out in my head for weeks, and when I am ready to write, they rush out happy to be free, and sometimes, annoyed that it took me so long to get to their scene.

Q: What was your initial inspiration for writing GTFOH, and what fueled you throughout the writing process for your play?
A: I have had and been part of numerous conversations with my friends who are partnered, and regardless of gender, there were always instances where communication had different meanings. I was curious about the truths of a couple in crisis and the perception of right and wrong. There are three sides of a story, your truth, my truth and the truth. What happens when all the truths are laid bare and the audience gets to weigh in?

Q: Tell us the first four words that come to mind to describe your play.
A: Love, memory, trust, truth

Q: Why did you select those four words?
A: This play is about a great love that has ventured off track. Through memory, we have the inciting incidents that have contributed to the erosion of trust. Does truth matter when you are trying to repair a fracture?

Q: What playwrights have inspired your body of work? And why?
A: This is alway a tough one for me because my list is long, but off of the top of my head, Ntozake Shange, Pearl Cleage, and Lynn Nottage because they each tell stories that show Blackness is not a monolith. They all have written characters who were true to themselves and not concerned about being liked or understood. There is power in writing that reflects the world you want to see.

Q: Who are some current playwrights you would recommend to those interested in new plays?
A: Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Aleesha Harris, Gethsemane Herron-Coward, C.A. Johnson, Deneen Reynolds-Knot, Stacy Rose, Charly Evon Simpson. I mean, I can keep going.

Q: What new projects are on your horizon?
A: I’m not at the NDA stage of my career, so yes, I can chat all day about a piece that I’m working on that has really stretched me as an artist – Say It Ain’t So, commissioned by the Revolution Shakespeare company. It’s my answer to what if Lady Macbeth were a Black woman, who was unapologetic in her pursuit of power and is SERVED, instead of in SERVICE to those around her. What do we inherit? What past should we not pass on?

About PlayFest 2021

Immerse yourself in the world of new plays as The Basel-Kiene Family joins City Beverages in presenting PlayFest 2021! This year’s new play festival features six groundbreaking new works that will be presented over the course of two weekends, November 5 – 14, 2021.

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