Get to Know the Playwright
What inspired you to write this play?
The idea came out of an assignment in the TMA Playmaking class. We were instructed to consider personal impetus, personal connections to our artistry. I thought of a poem that is near and dear to my heart. This piece is inspired by one of my grandmother's favorite poems, "The Adventures of Isabel" by Ogden Nash. It's a poem about a determined and courageous girl named Isabel who fights fantastical creatures with no fear.
Can you walk us through your writing and editing process for this play?
The process of writing and editing this play was primarily focused on determining what was the most important story to tell and message to share with an audience. Because the title is a nod to one of Shakespeare's works, I wanted to see how I could take this further while also incorporating fantastical creatures, like a talking bear, a creepy witch, and a hideous giant. When it was selected for Microburst 2025, I had to make a lot of choices in shortening the script to make it a true 10-minute play.
Where do you generally find ideas or inspiration for writing your plays?
"Exit BEAR, Pursued by ISABEL" is one of the most absurdist plays I've ever written, and I would be lying if I didn't say that absurdism is generally out of my wheelhouse. I tend to lean more towards realism, but most of the ideas that I come up with for my plays center on what my heart pulls me to write. It sounds so cliché to say, but if I don't follow my heart in the plays that I write, if there's no heart in the pieces I construct, then my work is practically writer's block in script form. If there's no heart, there's no play.
Can you share a bit about your background in playwriting?
I wrote my first play in 2023, and it was an absolute train wreck. What it did successfully, however, inspired me to keep writing. I took my first playwriting class in Fall 2024, and I've been taking writing classes ever since. Truthfully, I hadn't ever considered playwriting as a passion or interest of mine until God told me to change my major. "Playwriting? Directing? Are you kidding me?" He most certainly wasn't, and I'm so grateful that I followed His instruction.
What experiences have shaped you as a playwright?
At the end of 2023 I wrote my first train wreck of a play, a sequel(!!) to Finnegan Kruckemeyer's "The Boy at the Edge of Everything," which I acted for in BYU Young Company's production in Fall 2023. My first draft of this sequel didn't do the original script justice, but I kept working on it, and four drafts later, I applied for a TMA student grant for funds to do a concert reading. This past August, I completed the first concert reading and am currently in the redrafting phase. This writing process has undoubtedly shaped me, as it has brought me closer to God and Christ in ways that I was not expecting.
What is one tip you would give to a beginner playwright?
Just start writing. Seek to answer a question that you have. Go with what you're passionate about. Don't force yourself to write about a topic that you have no interest in. Start at the heart and go from there. Let your first draft be as much of a sloppy draft as possible.
