Last weekend, I headed down to Austin to view a staged reading of my latest play The Stories of Us. In August of this year, I wrote another draft of Stories and pushed it aside until the final reveal this October. It’s always exciting to see what the characters reveal to you after you’ve been away from them for a while.
At the reading, I learned that as a playwright I create the world. I should let it stand WITHOUT explaining everything. This draft was chock full of definitions for identities and it ended up sounding like an educational lecture in certain parts. That is totally not my style.
I am often surprised at the diversity of the audience members that come out to see The Stories of Us. This play is multilingual and often times this makes people question what audience it is geared towards. A young Afro-descendant women asked me that question and I told her “Black and Brown people”. She stated that not understanding the Spanish parts in the play made her question what audience this play was geared towards.
Photo via Jelisa Jay Robinson
Overall, this playwrighting venture has taught me that a PLAYWRIGHT’s work is never done. Onward to the fourth…er…I mean fifth…wait…I mean sixth draft of Stories.
Shout out to Rupert and JoAnn Reyes of Teatro Vivo, the fabulous director Florinda Bryant, Dr. Jones’s African American Theatre History students and everyone who attended this wonderful meeting. Your feedback and constant support is what keeps me doing what I love. Stay tuned for the Stories of Us’s BIG premiere in April 2016! Hope you can join us.
Black Girl, Latin World 