Artistic Statement

My medium is everything available in the traditional theater (e.g. lighting, costumes, dialogue, sound) as well as non-traditional theatrical elements (e.g. movement, multimedia (video), puppetry, magical realism) to address burning issues of our times, e.g. Turtles and single mothers and Plank and individual rights and climate change. My purpose for using non-traditional elements isn’t for the shock value, but for the way they force people to look at “normal” things differently. I investigate the theater world in the same way painters—abstract expressionist, for example—explore and push the boundaries of the canvas, only instead of painting pictures, I’m telling stories by pushing the boundaries of the theater. I’m inspired by any artist who pushes the limits of their medium. Examples of these techniques in my work include:

• In Turtles, the audience walked across the set to get to their seats, immersing themselves in the play’s world from the minute they’re in the theater.
• In Turtles, women play men (gender-bending), because I want a woman to play a lawyer telling a single mother she’s a bad mother, or a drunk hitting on a woman.
• In Turtles, Jesus builds a car from pieces of the set—is that a miracle or is he just a really good mechanic? (magical realism)
• In Plank, Potpee converses with a whale (magical realism) and the Ocean is played by four actors (movement.)
  

My vision is Alley Cat Theater, a diverse theater that promotes and introduces Boston audiences to new, non-traditional work addressing today’s issues.