New Play Commissioned by Studio Theatre

Studio Theatre in Washington DC has commissioned a new play about an alternate present-day Virginia, where the creep of fascism affects two friends as they try to figure out their place in the world. (And, as our government continues to slip into unconstitutionality, perhaps the present day here is not so alternate.)

The play is a reflection on an ability I see and experience these days to feel horror one moment and then to slide back into the comfort of routine and domestic banter the next. There is real engagement fatigue as our nation slides towards patriarchal fascism. I know that it is possible to be engaged and disengaged in a single breath, that there is a pronounced effect of endless fear-mongering, and that people with the luxury to do so will still fret about dating, petty work dramas, and family, while atrocities continue to happen in the world. 

I want to explore all of this in a nonjudgmental way by amplifying the creep of fascism while reflecting on the sometimes slight and sometimes enormous impact that the government can have on daily life. Sometimes, a death in the family or a breakup will shake you more than news of a horrifying new piece of legislature.

​We live, after all, in a micro-world within a larger macro-world, and I'm curious about how we navigate that as a society.

UPDATE 01/20/19: An article on BroadwayWorld.com  describes the 2018-2019 commissioned playwrights and directors who will develop new work at the Studio R&D incubator.