Hometown: From Onekama, MI
Education: B.A. in English, Writing from Michigan State University
Favorite Credits: Excited to have my first show produced (as in, prior credits N/A)
Why theater?: Theater intrigues me as the most immediate and relatable living art form.
Tell us about In the Library:In the Library is a brief but charged meditation on the nature of suspicions and the roles adopted by the skeptical, the grieving the outraged and so forth in the immediate aftermath of that most specific and unfortunately common of mass killings, the school shooting.
What inspired you to write In the Library?: Apart from just the news, it was a fascination with the way we as a culture perceive the victim of any given situation, and our often biased judgments in that regard, and whether these predilections require a more accurate analysis.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theater that can speak to a moment on the surface while reiteration lasting truths always hits me hardest. I am inspired by classics of course, Moliere to Beckett, and currently really enjoy the reflection of how jaded culture has become in the dark comedy of Martin McDonagh, a favorite of mine.
Who would you like to work with that you’ve yet to work with?: Difficult question. I've worked with no one but a few friends thus far, so any new contacts and any way to make my art better would be phenomenal.
What shows have you recommended to your friends?: I was very excited when I saw Spring Awakening was doing a revival, I mention that pretty frequently.
If there were a movie made about your life who would play you and what would it be called?: If there were a movie about me it would probably be called "Insomnia: The Wikipedia Trap", because of how much sleep I don't get from being sucked into reading or watching random things on the internet. And I have been mistaken for Paul Dano in public several times, so I suppose he could play me.
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: If I could see any opening night of any show, I would have to see the 1957 London premier of Beckett's Endgame.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Drinking in the morning, I guess?
If you weren’t doing theater you would be _____?: I actually write in other avenues as well. I can't stop writing, it's ingrained in me. But I have done a lot of bartending to pay the bills.
What’s up next?: I am currently working on a full length play that I'd love to get into another theater festival or DUTF next season, or into a theater company's hands. I'm also working on the pilot of a TV comedy and several film scripts.