1. Can you tell readers a little about your upcoming play and what inspired you to write it?
My upcoming play is called “The Cost of Love.” The premise is “What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger." I’ve written another play that I’ve worked on for about five years. “The Train Ride” (A semi-comedy), which was a spoof of the cost of love story. It is based upon my life and my experience with Domestic Violence.
2. What do you think is the biggest myth associated with Domestic Violence?
The biggest myth I believe, is these women are uneducated and stupid. And... They must like it, why can’t they just leave? What people really don’t understand is domestic violence and abuse doesn’t discriminate. You could be a teacher, nurse, police, man, woman, judge, lawyer, or Indian chief. Whether it’s verbal or physical, it’s still abuse. And it hurts.
3. Based upon your experience as a volunteer in a women's shelter, why do many women stay in abusive relationships?
In my opinion there are four basic reasons why women stay in abusive relationships:
Love: When you love the person more than you love yourself. (The grave yard love syndrome)
Financial: He holds the purse strings
(Yours and his)
Fear: He constantly bullies, hits, pushes, mentally beats you down and dead
Control: where are you going? You better not leave? Sex.
4. How can we help to increase awareness of this social ill, and decrease the incidents of violence?
We can start by planting seeds, (non judgmental) and helping them to make a plan to leave kit.
5. What do you hope audiences will take away from your play? In other words, what's the moral of the story?
The moral of my story is sometimes you have to let go in order to survive. One of the hardest things I’ve done in my life is to tell this story. I’m re-living the pain, lost love ( Yes I said it , Lost love) and the physical and mental abuse I put myself and my children through. When my play is produced, I want the silent "victims" who are living in the shadows of fear to know if you have the courage to one day leave, there is sunshine at the end of that dark cloud. To this, I am a "living witness."
6. How do you come up with your characters? Can you tell us a little about your creative process?
The story I’m writing about is about my life. The characters were already there. I asked my kids for their permission to tell this story and I interviewed them. My creative process consists of: classes I took, research, reading, mentors and re-writes.
7. What's the most difficult thing about being a playwright?
The most difficult thing about being a playwright is as I expressed earlier, re-writes. You might think your script is excellent until you have a table reading or stage reading. Every book I’ve read states “You can’t be married to your dialog, no matter how good you think it is." If you're not willing to re-write your story over and over again, don’t call yourself a playwright!!! Your work is always being critiqued over and over before it hits the stage. You can work on a project four or five years and still it may not hit the stage. The bottom line is, you must have determination and confidence to be a true playwright.
In telling our "stories," let's break the cycle of silence and begin healing.
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