Showing posts with label World Conquest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Conquest. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Artist's Statement

We don’t understand shit. Life doesn’t come with a making-of DVD, with your friends and acquaintances explaining their characters and motives. My plays don’t explain life, because nothing can. What would the answer be anyway? But when we go to the theatre, we feel like we “get” something new. We always knew friendship was a good thing, but after a show we feel it. We feel the depths of human despair and desperation, as well as the pinnacles of virtue and love. In everyday life, we forget to feel and to think a lot. We just do, do, do, action, action, action, now, now, now. My plays are a reminder to STOP doing and LIVE. I write an amalgamation of my interactions with people, thoughts about love, and attempts to map the motivations of the intricately simple human race. Idealistic and overly romantic, I write happy endings because I don’t have the heart to remind people of the truth. Life lessons are not learned from watching theatre. I’m not trying to change anyone’s life or make them a better person. I remind them that there’s a lot going on in their lives, and outside of their lives, and if they’re closed off from it they’re missing out. I write about the connections we make with people, animals, places, and events, because that's what I think life is about. I write things that never happen to people and things that happen all the time. The things that never happen inspire people to live outside the comfort of what they already know. The things that happen all the time are a sign that other people are having the same experiences as them. A great teacher told me once that we go to theatre to feel connected, to feel the pain and joy that other people have felt and know that it’s our pain and joy too. This connection is the only antidote to hatred, prejudice and war, and so I crave to experience it and to write it. Most importantly, I write because I don't want to live in a world without art, especially theatre. I've felt the wonder, the inspiration, the awe of experiencing art and I know it's what makes our species special. My writings are my way of contributing to what makes us human: our ability to appreciate and internalize the world around us.