There are some plays…
I’m so so so pleased to be exploring Into the Gobpile – which is (I think) a different sort of play for me – with the wonderfully talented artists at The Road Theatre Company.
This is a play that’s sort of a (backwards?) love letter to a part of the country that I feel connected to, Southern Illinois. Not because it’s my home but because it’s a place that my mother considered home. Although – like Meg, the central character of the play – she never lived there.
Into the Gobpile – which I call “a play about lost connections and shifting landscapes” – is not my mother’s story. But during rehearsals these last weeks, I’m realizing that maybe I wrote it for her? At the play’s heart is family, which was the most important thing in the world to my mom. It follows one young woman’s personal journey as she tries heal from trauma, set against the trauma of environmental and social upheavals. I hope it’s a story that tells truths in very unexpected ways. And (fingers crossed) it’s funny.
At any rate, I’m very excited that this play was included in this year’s Summer Playwrights Festival; I always love being part of The Road’s SPFs and am blown away by the actors director Laura Stribling and I are working with: Chelsea Gonzalez, Jennifer Finch, Patricia Herd, Michelle Gillette and June Carryl.
But in addition to Scott Alan Smith, Matthew Singletary, Carlyle King, Taylor Gilbert, Sam Anderson and all of the many Road company members who make the Summer Playwrights Festivals happen, I want to thank Carlyle and the actors who workshopped the play through The Road last fall (we were lucky enough to hang onto a few of them!) as well as the artists at the Playwrights Union where the play originated, and dramaturg Heather Helinsky for her invaluable guidance. Obviously, this is a play that’s close to my heart and I’m really honored to share it. I hope you can join us on Saturday, August 3, 8pm at the Road on Magnolia, 10747 W Magnolia Blvd in NoHo
Click Here for Summer Playwrights Festival Info
