Sunday, June 15, 2003

I have a sense of social responsibility, but it is separate from my playwriting. But, I don't want to shovel more shit into the culture. When I write a play I want it to have heart and magic. If a piece on stage connects to one or two people, it has done its job.

Passion The Playwright: An Instrument of Social Change?

We see ourselves as post-politics and moderate. In other countries, artistic-emotional response is deeply tied to politics. The media and power structure are afraid of politics, not the audience. Storytelling is controlled by a layer of bureaucracy. For me, an audience is a community and theatre is about helping a community define itself. The more opposing viewpoints I'm able to unearth and put on stage, the stronger the sense of community in that theatre.
· Impassioned about political-social issues [Backstage]
· Trotsky's ghost wandering the White House... [His Story Stage]
· Downsizing Democracy: How America Sidelined Its Citizens and Privatized Its Public [Dissent Margazine]