Application appreciation

Over the past three months I have undertaken the daunting and exciting task of applying to graduate school for an MFA in Playwriting. This process, similar to grant-writing, has forced me to articulate what I do and why I do it.

I believe that this is exceptionally important for artists (even those that weave numbers, sand accounts and paint in a suit and tie). Tell me please, why is it so challenging? I met a heck of a lot of resistance inside myself, that's for sure. Once the rocky job was completed, however, I felt grounded and inspired by my current manifesto.

Brave, bold and ballsy theatre excites me most. I create work that asks questions, begging engagement of the audience in an active and heart-felt way. I create theatre that celebrates the immediacy and aliveness of the medium, and to this end my plays often live outside of the traditional theatre setting as site-specific and immersive experiences in which the audience are participants.

I investigate: legacy and family; the social and environmental state of our current world; the rhythm of the pulse of the city in which I live; the poetry of how we speak; and the stories of my gender and my generation. I am interested in the delicate lines between humor and heartbreak, hysteria and horror.

The heart of my theatrical storytelling is transcendence and transformation. Theatre comes from ritual and these roots run deep. The stories that grip me are fundamentally redemptive and I strive to challenge what we think we believe.

I am committed to exploring the inherent grace in the human experience.

I encourage you, no matter what your calling, to write about what you do and why you do it.

Those magical words might be just what you need to keep warm this Winter.