In preparation for Advocates for Youth’s world premiere production of Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign, I had a chance to please with playwright Nicole Jost, author of two plays, MARIA and CHARLIE, about her writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social advocacy. Please enjoy this wonderful interview! JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why was it important for you to be a part of Advocates for Youth’s Out of Silence: Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign? NICOLE JOST: As an artist, I have a responsibility to tell stories that aren’t often told. And too often, abortion stories aren’t told. We have a lot of pre-conceived notions about abortion – what kinds of people have them, for what reasons, etc. I was incredibly excited that the 1 in 3 Campaign provided a platform for real people to tell their real abortion stories, to complicate this simplistic narrative with the truth of their experiences. I was honored when you asked me to participate. JL: Tell me about the play(s) that you wrote? What inspired it? NJ: For the first piece I wrote, Maria, I really wanted to tell the story of a relatively young woman who decided to have an abortion simply because she wasn’t ready to be a mother. Not to minimize the other kinds of stories out there, women who were abused or going through any number of struggles that influenced their decisions, but just to insist that young women should have the right not to become parents if they don’t want to. That all we should need to hear is that they don’t want to. They shouldn’t need some other reason to convince us or justify their decision. So I searched through all the stories and found two that seemed to complement each other. Both women are young Mexican Americans living in Texas, and both talked about the difficulty of getting to a clinic, of pressure from family members, etc. For the second piece, Charlie, you and the Advocates for Youth asked me to write about fetal anomaly, and I was happy to take that on. Fetal anomaly is another facet of the truth of abortions – that sometimes there’s something so medically wrong with the fetus that it would be cruel to bring it to term. The two stories that I used as source material are heartbreaking, because both women desperately wanted to have a child. They had to make this awful, impossible decision, and I really came to see that it was their love for their unborn children that caused them to choose abortion. They didn’t want to see them suffer. One of the women said she felt grateful to live in a state where second term abortion is legal, because they didn’t know the extent of the fetus’s problems until the second term. That struck me. I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been if she’d been forced to carry her baby to term, just to cause it pain. I really admire this woman for being able to tell her story to so many, and for standing by the choice she made, even though it hurt her to choose it. JL: What was it like to turn this story into a play? What was your process? What research, if any, did you do? NJ: It was simultaneously easy and hard to dramatize these stories. Easy, because they were so inspiring to me. The women’s voices were so clear, so strong. The hard part was the pressure to live up to what they really said, to try to carry their spirits through in the text. I did some research, yes, but I got most of what I needed from the stories themselves. Another thing that happened, when I took on this project, is that some of my own friends started to tell me about their experiences with abortion. That was really eye opening. So that colored my writing as well. JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work? NJ: Theater is incredibly powerful. Sometimes, people just need to see and experience things for themselves to understand them. They can read articles or study an issue, but it doesn’t hit home until they feel like they’ve experienced it in some way firsthand. And that’s what theater is. It provides a human connection to a story. I really believe in the power of that communal experience. I’m also an arts educator; I’m the Artistic Director of Young Playwrights’ Theater. I see arts education as a form of activism, offering up the art of theater as a tool for young people to express themselves. Making art should be a right, not a privilege, and so I seek to give opportunities to young people that wouldn’t necessarily have access to these forms of storytelling. JL: What are you working on next? Where can we follow your work? NJ: I’m working on a play about sexuality and gendered violence called Slut – I’m very interested in how women’s bodies are policed and controlled, which is another reason I was happy to work on Out of Silence. I’ll also be participating in a writing intensive with The Inkwell this year, and the commitment is to write a new full-length play in one year. So look out for that! You can find me on twitter at @walkunafraiddc.
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In preparation for Advocates for Youth’s world premiere production of Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign, I had a chance to speak with playwright Karen Zacarías, author of CHECKS AND BALANCES, about her writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social advocacy. Please enjoy this wonderful interview! JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why was it important for you to be a part of Advocates for Youth’s Out of Silence: Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign? KAREN ZACARÍAS: I think the right to choose is an essential component of a woman’s human rights. Period. I have three children, so I know first hand the pleasures and sacrifices of motherhood. I never want my daughters to feel the value of their spirit is trumped by the repercussions of their biology. Women are not vessels for other people’s politics. We have the right to be captain of our own reproductive journey, whatever that may be. JL: Tell me about the play(s) that you wrote? What inspired it? KZ: I was asked to write a short play that involved a man and a woman discussing the financial repercussions of an unplanned pregnancy. I liked the absurd idea of examining the most personal type of question in a very public and impersonal institution. JL: What was it like to turn this story into a play? What was your process? What research, if any, did you do? KZ: It’s very interesting to have to create tension, character and tackle a topic as emotionally provocative as abortion in four pages. JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work? KZ: Theater is an arena for true dialogue…between characters and between the play and the audience. All good plays deal with characters, conflict and choice…and dramaturgically, the issue at hand is all about that. JL: What are you working on next? Where can we follow your work? KZ: I have a number of plays that are set to premiere next season including a Brazilian musical at the Kennedy Center, a Latino comedy with music at a major regional theater, and the adaptation of Ella Enchanted. Currently, my play The BOOK CLUB PLAY is playing at both The Dallas Theater Center (TX) and the Leshner Center for the Arts (CA) in Jan-Feb of 2015. For more information please visit: www.karenzacarias.com In preparation for Advocates for Youth’s world premiere production of Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign, I had a chance to speak with playwright Jennifer L. Nelson, author of DARNELL AND SHENAY, about her writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social advocacy. Please enjoy this wonderful interview! JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why was it important for you to be a part of Advocates for Youth’s Out of Silence: Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign? JENNIFER L. NELSON: I believe women have the right to choose what happens to our bodies and our lives and I fear that the current right to life movement may impede access to information, substituting religion-based dogma. JL: Tell me about the play(s) that you wrote? What inspired it? JN: My play is about a young, very low income couple, living in a boarding house as they struggle to finish their educations and make ends meet. When they discover they are pregnant they have consider how they would be able to take care of a baby. JL: What was it like to turn this story into a play? What was your process? What research, if any, did you do? JN: Playwriting is storytelling through dialogue. The biggest challenge is making information sound like natural conversation. I imagine what the characters look like and sound like and that leads to what they say. JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work? JN: Theatre—and all the arts--are just other ways to explore and demonstrate how people communicate. Through the deployment of creative dialogue and images, theatre can demonstrate how Issues affect individuals without making any one feel put on the spot. JL: What are you working on next? Where can we follow your work? JN: I am working on two commissions: one is a short portrait of a historically African American community in Falls Church, VA; and the other a full length play for Ford's Theatre that deals with girls and baseball. Follow me at www.jenniferlnelson.net In preparation for Advocates for Youth’s world premiere production of Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign, I had a chance to speak with playwright Allyson Currin, author of RUAH, about her writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social advocacy. Please enjoy this wonderful interview! JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why was it so important for you to be a part of Advocates for Youth’s Out of Silence: Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign? ALLYSON CURRIN: I have always been an ardent supporter of a woman’s right to choose. As soon as you described the project to me, I was in! It is urgent to get the stories of brave women told, and to dramatize TRUE stories from these brave women was a project I was eager to join. And when I was told the names of the other amazing playwrights involved? I was honored. JL: Tell me about the play(s) you wrote. What inspired it? AC: The play that I wrote is called Ruah, which is the Hebrew word for breath or spirit. The source material – the personal stories – that Advocates for Youth provided for us were amazing. Each woman was telling her nuanced story so courageously and so unapologetically that it was challenging to pick one to turn into a theatre piece. I ultimately chose the story I did because it was told with such humor and self-awareness. I felt an immediate connection to the speaker – she felt a lot like…well…me had I ever found myself pregnant as a college student. I felt a lot of gratitude for her frankness and I knew that her story was the one I wanted to tell. I admire her candor. If I ever got the opportunity to meet her, I just know we would click. JL: What was it like to turn this story into a play? What was your process? What research, if any, did you do? AC: This play pretty much wrote itself. Honestly. Usually when I’m writing pieces like this, I’m in knots. I sweat, I re-write frenetically, I doubt myself. But not this time! Not sure why…I think it was the marriage of my convictions and the truly inspiring source material. JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work? AC: That depends. I certainly don’t want ALL of my theatre to feel obligated to attach itself to issues. That being said, theatre is uniquely qualified to act as an advocate and forum for social issues because of its immediacy, and the directness of the sense of community it creates. I have watched audiences profoundly affected by theatre. Changed. I have listened to people from different walks of life, races, experiences, come together to LISTEN when united by their shared experience of a play. That’s a real, tangible difference that theatre can make in the world. It makes me so proud to be a theatre practitioner. JL: What are you working on next? Where can we follow your work? AC: Fortunately, a LOT! I have four world premieres of my work in 2015 – count ‘em, FOUR! Cincinnati Playhouse commissioned me to write a new play for them, HIGH SCHOOL ALIENS, and I have been working with their amazing artistic team on the play’s development. It opens in the fall. In DC, Doorway Arts Ensemble will produce my comedy THE COLONY as a part of the DC Women Playwrights Festival, and I’m working on a new devised piece for Factory 449 that also opens in the fall. The biggest DC premiere, however, I can’t announce yet! Stay tuned there… And, as always, I continue my amazing collaboration with my fellow Welders. Our third production will be Bob Bartlett’s darkly hysterical play DEATH BY HIBACHI at Atlas Performing Arts Center in May, and I am so happy to serve Bob in his capacity as Artistic Director (as he served both me and Caleen Sinette Jennings in our artistic directorships). You can check us out at www.thewelders.org, and follow my work at www.allysoncurrin.com. Back in June, Advocates for Youth, a D.C. based nonprofit organization and advocacy group dedicated to helping "young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health," contacted me about working with them on a play for their 1 in 3 Campaign. Initially, they asked me to write a one act play, but my schedule wouldn't allow it. Instead, I suggested that we commission local women playwrights to write short monologues and scenes. This way, the stories would come from a rich, diverse perspective and we could champion the voices of local women playwrights. The private reading took place as part of Advocates for Youth Urban Retreat and it was a complete success. Here's more information about the event and the amazing creative team from their press release, which can be read in full by clicking here: "Today, the 1 in 3 Campaign is proud to announce a transformative theatrical piece that will deepen and expand our understanding of women’s experiences with abortion--Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign. One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime, but for too long the culture of shame and stigma have pushed these stories to the fringes, or worse, into silence. The play will feature a series of vignettes written by a diverse set of multi-generational, female playwrights based on the over 400 stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign. The play will be co-produced by Jacqueline E. Lawton and directed by Marie Byrd Sproul. In the same vein as The Vagina Monologues, Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign will explore a wide range of situations and experiences. The play will continue the 1 in 3 Campaign’s mission to start a new conversation about abortion and move beyond the political rhetoric and divisive debate and will instead highlight the importance of abortion plays in the lives of women. “Plays have a long history of introducing new perspectives and shifting public discourse, while providing audience with a safe space to grapple with important social issues” says Debra Hauser, President of Advocates for Youth. “We have been honored to receive these stories from women across the country. Each story is unique and brings a fresh perspective to the issue, but what is most remarkable are the commonalities that bind us. It is our hope that after seeing these plays performed, the audience will understand that women who seek abortion are our sisters, daughters, mothers, and best friends. Our voices need to be heard and we are thrilled to bring that to stage for wider audiences.” In keeping with the 1 in 3 Campaign’s dedication to highlighting and furthering the activism of Millennials on abortion access, the play will be made available, for free, for youth activists to stage on their college campuses and their communities. The script for Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign will be available on the 1 in 3 Campaign website. The play is comprised of a series of short scenes, monologues and point-of-views all inspired from the stories of the 1 in 3 Campaign. The first private read-through for youth activists took place early September 2014. Creative team included co-producer Jacqueline E. Lawton, director Marie Byrd Sproul, dramaturgs Hannah Hessel Ratner and Laura Esti Miller, playwrights Allison Currin, DW Gregory, Caleen Jennings, Nicole Jost, Kristen LePine, Soo-Jin Lee, Danielle Mohlman, Mary Resing, Noelle Viñas, and Anu Yadav and actors Lolita-Marie, Patricia Dugueye, Amal Saade and Jennifer Speerstra. A fully produced play will be performed for the public in a professional theater in January 2015 around the anniversary of Roe v Wade. “It’s been an honor working on this project,” says co-producer Jacqueline E. Lawton. “I was deeply touched after reading the stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign, and I feel that Out of Silence creates room for better understanding of the complexities of people’s lives and the need to protect women’s rights.” “Bringing this production to the stage has been an insightful experience both personally and professionally,” says director Marie Byrd Sproul. “These stories need to be heard, they need to be brought out for all of us to listen to and respect.” Here are some wonderful photos from the reading by the brilliant Lloyd Wolf. Photos of our brilliant and talented cast from the reading.Photo from our post show discussion with the dramaturgs and playwrights.Photo of the creative team, who were able to attend.On Sunday, July 13 from 3pm to 5pm, following the 2pm matinee performance of Rodney King, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's Connectivity Department, in partnership with Dance Exchange (Washington, DC), will present "Stepping Toward Racial Equity": A House Lights Up Workshop Co-Presented with Dance Exchange. I'll be joining members of the internationally acclaimed Washington, DC-based company Dance Exchange to co-facilitate Stepping toward Racial Equity, an engaging, thought-provoking, and participatory movement workshop aimed at exploring the powerful ways in which personal storytelling can serve as a tool for advancing racial equity in our communities. Immediately following the performance of Rodney King, participants will work together to create a new dance piece by using accessible art-making tools rooted in inquiry, generative dialogue, and movement. There will also be opportunities to collaborate with Dance Exchange on material that is currently being developed for Dallas Faces Race and Race Forward’s Facing Race Conference which will take place in Dallas, TX in November 2014. All audience members with a desire to move, create, and advance racial equity are welcome, regardless of background or experience. Those who purchase tickets to the Sunday, July 13 matinee performance of Rodney King will also have the option to participate in the workshop for an additional $5. Click here to purchase tickets to the Sunday, July 13 2pm performance of Rodney King. Click here to purchase tickets to the Stepping Toward Racial Equity workshop. About the Play Woolly is thrilled to reunite with OBIE Award winning artist Roger Guenveur Smith after presenting his critically acclaimed A Huey P. Newton Story in 1996. In Rodney King, Smith explores the legacy of another American icon, colliding history and improvised poetry to unravel the myth of “the first reality TV star.” From the initial glare of the national spotlight as the victim of police brutality, to the heroism thrust upon him that ignited the LA riots, to his lonely death at the bottom a swimming pool, Smith captures the story of a flawed, good-hearted everyman, and by extension reveals America’s endlessly complicated relationship with its racial past and present. All tickets for Rodney King are $35 and can be purchased here. "The importance of Roger's new piece about Rodney King is almost shocking in relation to the Trayvon Martin verdict and other recent cases that have continued to make black men and boys feel uniquely vulnerable in our society," says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. "Roger's performance this summer will extend an important conversation about race that has flowed through our current season (including Appropriate, We Are Proud to Present..., From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin: A Town Hall on Black Bodies and American Racism, and Facing our Truth: Ten Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race, and Privilege). His complex perspective on Rodney King's life explores a range of emotional responses and restores simple human dignity to a man who accidentally became a national symbol of racial persecution." You're invited to attend a free reading of IN THE CROSSING by Leila Buck on Monday May 12th at 7:30pm present by Busboys and Poets, the reading will take place at the Studio Theatre's Mead Theatre. Directed by Shana Gold, IN THE CROSSING was originally developed with Shana Gold, Yuval Boim, Adam Green, Kathryn Grody, Lameece Issaq and Maya Serhan. This reading will feature Adam Abel, Leila Buck, Sara Buffamanti and Kathryn Kates. No reservations required, click here to learn more. In 2006, as Lebanese-American writer/performer Leila Buck was introducing her Jewish husband Adam to her family in Lebanon, war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, and the couple found themselves caught in the crossfire. Now, several years and a trip to Israel later, they've been asked by Adam's aunt to share their experiences at a conference of the "Society for Intercultural Dialogue and Education." And you're invited to join them. Blurring the line between truth and fiction, theater and town hall, In The Crossing is an edge-of-your-seat live experience that probes the messy intersections of family and politics—the boundaries between us, and what happens when we choose to cross them. IN THE CROSSING has been developed with/at The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Lark Play Development Center, and Culture Project's Women Center Stage. Playwright's Notes"In The Crossing began as a series of urgent emails written between air strikes that summer to friends and colleagues about what my husband and I were witnessing on the ground in Lebanon - a point of view less widely seen in American media coverage of the conflict. Upon returning to New York, I began crafting a solo storytelling performance about our experience, doing readings across the U.S. with support from the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Epic, the Lark, Theater J, Queens Theatre in the Park, and a host of conferences and cultural centers from the Brooklyn Museum to Chautauqua Institution, which culminated in a mini-run with Culture Project’s Women Center Stage. In the talkbacks that followed each reading, I quickly realized that the most palpable conflict in the room was that amongst the audience about how I should tell this story – whether it was fair, biased, or even irresponsible - and the questions this raised for me as a playwright and performer. So I decided to write that journey into the play – adding other actors to represent these dissenting voices and my own struggle amidst them to find and hold my own truth. Through a unique and constantly evolving structure that combines storytelling, dramatic scenes, and structured improvisation, the audience is invited to become the fifth character in the play, whose responses, questions, and participation help shape a continually evolving journey. What I love most about theater – the thing that makes it so unique, and powerful, and bold- is the fact that performer and audience are in the same space, at the same time, together, sharing all the discomfort and danger, beauty and possibility of that interaction. Live performance is a precious space particularly in these virtual times. It helps you connect in a different way, and allows for a dialogue that must go both ways. So this play is an invitation: To listen to a story you may not have heard, from several perspectives; to speak up, whatever your perspective, and share your own; and to explore the ripples of that dialogue to more peaceful resolution of conflicts in living rooms and situation rooms around the world." -- Leila Buck About the PlaywrightLeila Buck is a Lebanese American writer, performer and teaching artist. Her award-winning solo show, ISite, toured the U.S., Europe and China for more than ten years, and is published in Four Arab American Plays. Her shorter plays include ONE, performed for Epic Theatre Center alongside works by Craig Lucas, Neil LaBute, and Tony Kushner. Her acting credits include the off-Broadway run and international tour of AFTERMATH (NYTW - Drama League nomination) and the Wilma Theatre production of SCORCHED (Barrymore Award). Her theatrical work has been featured in The New York Times and American Theatre magazine, and in Etching Our Own Image: Voices from the Arab American Art Movement. In 2014-15 she will be artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University through Doris Duke Foundation’s Building Bridges grant. Leila holds a Master's in Educational Theatre and Middle East Studies from NYU. She is a member of the Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater and a Usual Suspect with New York Theatre Workshop, and is currently performing in THE ADMISSION, now through May 18th at Studio Theatre. Click here to learn more. On Sunday, May 4, 2014, the D.C. Regional Chapter of The Dramatists Guild of America will host the Playwrights: Taking Control of Our Own Fates workshop at the Kennedy Center. This day-long workshop for playwrights, which is now at capacity with 100 participants, will cover a wide variety of subjects of critical importance to dramatists in the 21st century. This event was organized by Brent Englar, Gwydion Suilebhan, and Noelle Viñas. While it won't be livestreamed, there are several bloggers and tweeters in this group. To follow the conversation, use #PwFate #newplay. After a brief welcome address, the day will include: Brief Welcome (11:00 am) Dramatists Guild's DC representative Gwydion Suilebhan Ask the Expert: How to Fringe (11:10 am-12:00 pm) A panel discussion, moderated by playwright Brett Abelman, on the secrets to success in Fringe festivals far and wide. Panelists will include playwrights Stephen Spotswood, Ann Fraistat, Regie Cabico, Bob Bartlett, and Laura Zam. Lunch/Mix-and-Mingle (12:00-1:00 pm) Social Media for Playwrights (1:00-2:00 pm) A presentation on the essentials of social media by dramatist and leading social media expert Devon Smith. Playwrights Raising Money (2:00-3:00 pm) A panel discussion designed to help playwrights understand the secrets of raising money in support of their work. Moderated by Jojo Ruf panelists include playwrights Kathleen Akerley, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Ari Roth, and Anu Yadav. Break (3:00-3:30 pm) Roundtable: Local Playwright Initiatives (3:30-4:30 pm) A round-table discussion of local playwright initiatives: their models, missions, challenges, and opportunities. Moderated by Renee Calarco, participants include Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Allyson Currin, Danielle Mohlman, and Joanna Castle Miller. Town Hall Brainstorming (4:30-6:00 pm) Discuss the fate of the DC and Baltimore playwriting community: the issues we're facing and how we'd like to address them. This should be a vital opportunity for connection, empowerment, and direction for all of us. The Dramatists Guild of America was established over eighty years ago, and is the only professional association which advances the interests of playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists writing for the living stage. The Guild has over 6,000 members nationwide, from beginning writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters. Earlier today, I was speaking with friend and colleague "Artistic expression is intrinsically subjective. What makes art, in any medium, so compelling to me is that everyone can see something different in the same source material. (…that concept is how Rorschach got its name.) The things that move one audience member deeply, may leave another cold and vice versa. I am keenly aware of the absurdity of trying to "judge" art--whether it's via a theatre critic, the Helen Hayes awards, or the Source Festival selection process. There is no truly objective approach…because such a thing doesn't exist in art. And it shouldn't. When I'm reviewing readers' input, I'm always struck when I come across two perspectives that are aggressively divergent. And that moment reminds me that there is never a "right" answer in these things. It reminds me that just because I am moved by a play, it doesn't mean everyone else will be. To all of us making art, there is always an audience out there for our work. Whether it's been selected/awarded/reviewed the way we'd like it to be--for every person out there who's rejected it, there's someone else out there who loves it, or will love it when they discover it." Jenny McConnell Frederick is Artistic Director of CulturalDC’s Source Festival and co-Artistic Director of the award-winning Rorschach Theatre, which she founded in 1999 with Randy Baker. For Rorschach, she has directed numerous productions including the Helen Hayes Nominated Voices Underwater and God of Vengeance as well as a recent sold-out run of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. As Director of Artistic Programs at CulturalDC she oversees the selection, development and production of more than 25 new plays each year for Source Festival. Additionally, she runs CulturalDC’s Mead Theatre Lab Program and Flashpoint Gallery through which she works closely with visual and performing artists to create, develop and produce their own work. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and her newest producing endeavor, a two year old son named Thane. For the past year and three months, I've taken part in Arena Stage's Playwrights’ Arena, the newest new play initiative developed by the American Voices New Play Institute. Curated by Director of Artistic Programming David Snider, I joined fellow playwrights Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Heather McDonald, Danielle Mohlman, and Shawn Northrip for twice monthly meetings. When we first convened in January of 2013, New Play Institute Dramaturg, Jocelyn Clarke, set the tone for our work together in the room (paraphrased from my notes): “We are to serve as each other’s memory for the work we originally set out to do on our respective plays. We are here to champion and challenge each other. We are here to ask questions and listen intently. We are here to dig deeply and honestly into our process and forge ahead even when it all falls apart.” Toward the end of May, we took a three month break to focus on completing our scripts and returned in September. I wrote about our process for Arena Stage's blog Stage Banter: "Our focus is on script development. But it’s more than that. We are investigating our dramaturgical practice and our writing process. We’re exploring our theatrical and creative mindset and exploding assumptions about what is and isn’t theater. We are shaping a philosophy of theater that guides our writing practice and acts as a point of entry into our story telling. We are here to experience the ecology of playwriting — we are learning who we are as playwrights in relationship to our work and process to each other and to the American Theater. Each session allows for an intense, focused and rigorous practice of inquiry, writing and study. I leave each meeting exhausted and rejuvenated all at once, which is really quite thrilling. I feel so fortunate to be able to spend a year dedicated to communing with such exceptionally talented and diverse playwrights. After only five months together, I felt that I had become a stronger and more confident writer. What’s more, I had a renewed sense of love for the theater." We returned in September for further development and workshops with actors. Hearing the play aloud and embodied by actors was essential. It's important to discuss a play, but there's only so much development that can happen in that space. Also, it helped that this cast came into the room so prepared. They asked smart questions and offered invaluable insight from their perspective. Our time together culminated in a two day open rehearsal that was presented as part of the Kogod Cradle Series. Jocelyn Clarke served as my dramaturg and led the work in the room. In the course of 48 hours, I slept for four of them and wrote nonstop. It was the most exhilarating, inspiring, encouraging, deeply satisfying, and productive experiences of professional career so far. Now, below you will find a few things about NOMS DE GUERRE, including a recent blog post, an interview with DC Metro Theatre Arts' very own Joel Markowitz, and wonderful photos from the open rehearsal by Ryan Maxwell. Please enjoy! Thoughts on Noms de GuerreNoms de Guerre is a play about war … about the cost of war, the price of freedom. I come from a family of soldiers. My grandfather was in the Army and served in the Korean War. My mother and father were also in the Army and served during the Vietnam War. My brother served sixteen years in the United States Air Force. My sister has worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs for five years. Noms de Guerre is a play about war … about honor and glory, pain and sacrifice. Originally, this was meant to be a play about the War on Women and our ever-changing role in society. I wanted to write about a conservative Black woman whose political decisions hindered women’s reproductive rights. Ultimately, I write to make sense of the world. In the wake of what’s been happening to women around the world and in America, I wanted to understand what could possibly drive a woman, a politician, to do this to other women. The play was to follow the evolution of a friendship between two women, Mira and Jude. Over the course of seventeen years, we would have seen certain events play out in their lives that addressed these larger issues. But despite many valiant attempts and wonderful conversations with my smart, talented and fearless fellow playwrights at Playwrights’ Arena, I found that I couldn’t write that play. Instead, this other story, this story of war … about how a broken soldier returns home and disrupts the lives of his wife and her best friend, needed to be the driving force. So, after speaking with Arena Stage’s brilliant, discerning and passionate dramaturg Jocelyn Clark, I set forth to tell this story. And in the most haunting, exquisite, and terrifying way, these other issues have come through, but now on more personal and deeply intimate levels. Noms de Guerre is a play about war … about its necessity and its waste, about the impact of war on returning veterans and their families. The first man I ever loved played the French horn, graduated from high school a year early, joined the Army, survived boot camp, and killed himself two days after my birthday, one week after holding me in his arms for the last time. The second man I loved left me to join the Marines, married someone else, had two children, did two tours in Iraq, and then returned to me for a year and half before parting again … this time to Afghanistan and to a woman more suited for military life. The third man I loved was born into a civil war that lasted on and off for the first thirteen years of his life. He longs to return to his home country, but cannot owing to its continued state of uncertainty. Each time Lebanon appears in the news, I write to him and ask after his family. Noms de Guerre is a play about war … about broken rules of engagement and the lengths the government will go to stay on mission. When I first spoke about the play to my father, he told me about a flashback he had experienced more than thirty years ago. It was the middle of the night. He found himself suddenly on the front porch with a gun in his hand. He asked me if I remembered this. I told him that I didn’t. I was probably four at the time and fast asleep. He then told me that the only thing that saved him was talking to his father about all that he had seen and done for his country. Noms de Guerre is a play about war … about heroic deeds, acts of horror, and the strength and courage it takes to speak truth to power. I’ve dedicated this play to my father. (Originally posted on Arena Stage's Stage Banter.) Playwrights Arena InterviewJoel Markowitz: What or who first inspired you to become a playwright? And why?
Jacqueline Lawton: Growing up, I always loved writing plays and poems and short stories. I did so mostly to entertain my little sister, but also to escape poverty and racism. Life was a little less harsh and vastly more entertaining in my imagination. I even wrote a passionate novella when I was eighteen. My sister found it a few years ago amongst some other long ago lost treasures and gave it to me. It’s a good thing she did, because my father no doubt would’ve had it published in the local newspaper by now! But I was inspired to become a playwright, as in earn an MFA and make a profession out it, by my former professors Amparo Garcia Crow, Ruth Margraff, Omi Olono Osun, and Jill Dolan. These women are brilliant scholars, extraordinary artists, and passionate advocates for gender parity, racial equity, and social justice. They believed in me and my voice as a writer, and showed me that I could do great good in this world from my work. As a playwright, I could address issues that mattered to me and also write parts for women and men of color, which were sorely lacking in the cannon of plays being taught. JM: Now, tell me about your play being featured in Arena Stage’s Playwrights’ Arena Showcase? JL: Ultimately, Noms de Guerre is a play about war and its impact on the lives of soldiers and their families. I spoke about the play at some length here on Arena Stage’s blog, but here’s the synopsis to further pique your interest: Noms de Guerre is a haunting, lyrical and passionate story of friendship, love and politics. Attorney General Mira Hamilton is a rising star in the Republican Party, whose campaign against women’s reproductive rights puts her at odds with her long-time best friend, Jude, an award-winning, truth-seeking Broadcast Journalist. At home, Mira struggles to run a campaign for Governor and help her war hero husband, Douglas—a former Marine Gunnery Sergeant and member of JSOC, who battles terror-fueled delusions and flashbacks, adjust to civilian life. When Jude discovers that Douglas is linked to a massacre of Afghan civilians, Mira is thrown into a whirlwind of political intrigue and must decide whether to hold on to her career or save her husband. JM: What do you hope audiences will walk away thinking about after experiencing your work? JL: With this play, I’m addressing three big ideas in deeply personal and intimate ways: (1.) the ever-changing role of women in society, (2.) the impact of government and military policy on human rights, and (3.) the damaging impact of PTSD on veterans and their family. I hope folks become more aware of these issues and consider how they resonate in their own lives. JM: How has being a part of Playwrights’ Arena helped you as a playwright? JL: Having the support of Arena Stage, David Snider, and Jocelyn Clarke has been wonderful. It’s been empowering to be a part of an intimate group of playwrights. Interestingly, being a part of this group reminded me of how much I love working with playwrights and why I love being a dramaturg so much. For the past few years, I’ve shifted my focus away from dramaturgy in order to focus on the growth and development of my own plays. Honestly, I miss it and was so glad to be asked to serve as dramaturg on browsville song (b-side for tray) by Kimber Lee, which will receive a world premiere production as part of Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New Plays.JM: What did you learn about your writing process? JL: I became more aware that my writing rituals are rooted in discipline. They are as meditative and focus-driven as they are inspirational and process driven. Also, I became even more aware of how important solitude is for me. As lovely and inspiring as it was to meet regularly, I would not have written this play without time away from our meetings. Also, that I rely heavily on my dramaturg for process and can only take a play so far before needing to hear it read aloud with actors. What’s great is that Playwrights Arena allowed for all of this to take place. JM: What else are you working on now? JL: I’m working on an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz for Adventure Theatre MTC next season and a ten minute Biblical feminist play about Miriam and Tzipora for Theatre Ariel to be featured at the Women’s Shabbat at Germantown Jewish Center in April and again at Salon Ariel’s 10×8: Food, Family and Philosophy Festival in Mary. I’m also working rewrites of The Hampton Years ahead of a reading in Miami later this year and a new full-length play, Among These Wild Things, which revolves around an interfaith/interracial couple, Nigel and Lee. When Nigel loses his beloved grandfather and learns more about the lengths his family went through to survive the Holocaust, Lee struggles to negotiate the introduction of religion into her life. It’s still in the early dream stages, but I’m so excited to get started on it. (Originally posted on DC Metro Theatre Arts.) |
My BlogI'm a playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. It is here where you'll find my queries and musings on life, theater and the world. My posts advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity in the American Theatre and updates on my own work. Please enjoy!
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