Get to Know the Playwright
What inspired you to write this play?
I am very interested in meta-theatre, and I wanted to write something I hadn't seen before. The idea of a book predicting everything you say was really animating to me. I was also inspired by my long-lasting love of Scooby-Doo and what can be done with those character archetypes.
Can you walk us through your writing and editing process for this play?
I began this play in a playwriting class in January. With every draft I wrote, the class read it together and gave feedback based on the changes I had made. Over the summer, I developed it further. My two dramaturgs, Michael Combs and Victoria Crabtree, were essential in the writing process. They were able to see the big picture of the play, as I focused on the little details. The most important part of the writing/editing process was having lots of different people read it and read it out loud.
Where do you generally find ideas or inspiration for writing your plays?
I usually find inspiration from movies, tv, books, and other plays, and occasionally dreams or conversations I have with people. I have a running Notes App on my phone where I put down any idea I have, no matter how silly it seems. I put down the first idea for this play in my notes months before I started writing the actual script.
Can you share a bit about your background in playwriting?
As a teenager, I really wanted to be a screenwriter. I wrote lots of short films to make with my friends in my backyard. When I got to college, I realized I was more interested in theatre than film, and shifted my focus in writing. I wrote my first play scene in a history class my freshman year, and signed up for the classes soon after.
What experiences have shaped you as a playwright?
One of the experiences that most shaped me as a playwright was the study abroad I took in London this last summer. Having the opportunity to see a lot of new plays, especially outside of Utah, let me think about playwriting in a way I did not before. The other experience that shaped me most was the process of my play being staged in Microburst. Plays are written to be performed, and there is something lost when they are not. It is also so different working solo on a script and then working with a group to bring it to life.
What is one tip you would give to a beginner playwright?
I will share the same advice one of my professors, Alex Mackenzie Johns, said to me a couple of years ago: "You don't need permission to write." No matter how much experience you have, or how silly you think your ideas are, you can just start writing. It might be bad! But you just have to write.
