I fitfully wrote a 15-minute monologue in the dizzying jet-lag of the first months of parenthood. The content is an abstraction of the great sense of fear I was feeling at the time. There was neither daylight nor season when I sat down to spill it out. I'm almost unsure I even wrote it.
The monologue premiered at the Alumni Theatre's 2018 New Ideas Festival. It then went on to be performed at the D'Arcy Symposium pop-up theatre/gallery later that summer. Another writer from the New Ideas Fest saw it and sort of excitedly "voluntold" me into co-producing a week of original one-acts at the Red Sandcastle Theatre the following spring. I had nothing right for that so I started developing Sweet Mama and the Salty Muffins into something longer. Turns out, quite a bit longer. Oops.
The result is an inverted tragedy exploring stardom, domesticity, motherhood, and grief, all told within an original acoustic folk concert. The play is teeming with original music.
I was terrified audiences would find it tedious as the last (and longest!) one-act in an evening of three. But, to the best of my vantage point, everyone went home quite happy. A TV producer sitting next to me suggested it could be a pretty strong film. Naturally, I kind of regret shrugging off such a ludicrous suggestion.
In the very short period between that first full-length draft, the staged-readings at the Red Sandcastle, and the start of the pandemic this piece was shortlisted by two curated theatre festivals. On both accounts I lacked a certain proximity to the festivals to foresee the technicalities that kept this play from the final cut of programming.
Which, you know, is a bummer and all, but it also feels a bit right. It firmly situates this show in tremendous company. And, in a way, it still feels good to have a "finished" full-length play, which I'm reasonably confident doesn't suck, that still has yet to premiere.
In the above image you can see the first full-length version of the script being read at the Red Sandcastle Theatre by Ara Glenn-Johanson, Renée Strasfeld, Liz Whitbread, and Michelle Jedrzejewski. Below, you can watch the archival video of Lise Lenihan beautifully performing that first monologue at the D'Arcy Symposium. It is directed and dramaturged by Kendra Jones and features original music by Sierra Noble. Enjoy!
The monologue premiered at the Alumni Theatre's 2018 New Ideas Festival. It then went on to be performed at the D'Arcy Symposium pop-up theatre/gallery later that summer. Another writer from the New Ideas Fest saw it and sort of excitedly "voluntold" me into co-producing a week of original one-acts at the Red Sandcastle Theatre the following spring. I had nothing right for that so I started developing Sweet Mama and the Salty Muffins into something longer. Turns out, quite a bit longer. Oops.
The result is an inverted tragedy exploring stardom, domesticity, motherhood, and grief, all told within an original acoustic folk concert. The play is teeming with original music.
I was terrified audiences would find it tedious as the last (and longest!) one-act in an evening of three. But, to the best of my vantage point, everyone went home quite happy. A TV producer sitting next to me suggested it could be a pretty strong film. Naturally, I kind of regret shrugging off such a ludicrous suggestion.
In the very short period between that first full-length draft, the staged-readings at the Red Sandcastle, and the start of the pandemic this piece was shortlisted by two curated theatre festivals. On both accounts I lacked a certain proximity to the festivals to foresee the technicalities that kept this play from the final cut of programming.
Which, you know, is a bummer and all, but it also feels a bit right. It firmly situates this show in tremendous company. And, in a way, it still feels good to have a "finished" full-length play, which I'm reasonably confident doesn't suck, that still has yet to premiere.
In the above image you can see the first full-length version of the script being read at the Red Sandcastle Theatre by Ara Glenn-Johanson, Renée Strasfeld, Liz Whitbread, and Michelle Jedrzejewski. Below, you can watch the archival video of Lise Lenihan beautifully performing that first monologue at the D'Arcy Symposium. It is directed and dramaturged by Kendra Jones and features original music by Sierra Noble. Enjoy!