I can't say this playwrighting thing came out of nowhere. All of us get the training for theater when we're children — when we make up scenarios in our head. I liked to do the time travel thing. I also liked pretending to be a bank loan officer ... a lot. Don't ask me how I knew how to write up fake bank loan papers. I vaguely remember organizing a show with my neighbors (my first credit as a director, thank you). We sang ... Honey, you are my shining star ... yes, it was the '70s. Anyway —
I started writing poetry as a young girl too, and then short stories. And in between bouts of wanting to write the great American novel, I flirted — ok, did some heavy petting — with the theater. Now we're going hot and heavy, me and the theater, and I have an opportunity to speak out on the issues I care about while entertaining people with what I hope are gripping stories.
I'm happy to present stuff about my plays now. All of this will be included in my A&E biography someday ...
Tree of Life
Tree of Life was presented at The Red Room Theater for two days in June 2007. I directed the full-length drama, starring Sarah Coleman as Ailyn and Brian Parker as Richard.
This is the blurb about Tree of Life: As her husband is dying in a nearby room, a young woman named Ailyn sits in an abandoned reading room with a priest named Richard. Ailyn — who is accustomed to being cared for — subtly tries to seduce Richard into taking care of her. The pair take an emotional journey as they talk of trees, love, childhood, death, and Cinderella's betrayal of young girls' ambitions. Tree of Life portrays the meeting of two lonely people reckoning with the broken hearts and deeply rooted fears that keep them from connecting. This two-character full-length drama is about need and the mistakes we make in grief.
I think Tree of Life is a pretty awesome play. Not because I wrote it, but because it's an old school type of play — not too flashy with the lights and jumping back and forth between time periods, etc. The strength of the play is these two characters and the emotional landscape they play on. The audience really connected with the piece ... even though the crew forgot to place some key props one night!
Can't wait to see this one on stage again.
An excerpt from Tree of Life ...
RICHARD: I don't know about that. I mean, I give reverence to the older trees because they've survived so long — for hundreds of years sometimes. But with humans, just because you have lived longer, that doesn't mean you have lived more. I've known some people who haven't explored more than a 10-mile radius from their homes.
AILYN: Well, just because you stay in one place, doesn't mean you've lived less. It is our mind that takes us places. I could have been to Mars for all you know. I could have communed with God, and He could have told me everything.
RICHARD: Not everyone has your imagination.
AILYN: I can see that you think if something can't be felt by your hands, it can't be experienced. Very strange for a religious man.
From the actors:
Sarah Coleman: Sarah is excited to work on this original play by Pia Wilson. Her favorite roles in past productions include Lala in The Last Night at Ballyhoo, Irene in The Dresser, Isabel in My Children, My Africa, and Rennie in The Most Massive Woman Wins. She is grateful for her family and friends for their support, patience and humor.
Brian Parker: I would first like to thank Pia for giving me the opportunity to "seal the deal" on my trip straight to hell. And to Sarah for watching and letting me go by myself! Seriously, these are two of the sweetest people and it has been a pleasure working with and getting to know them. As far as me, keep your eyes peeled. You may see me around before my "trip!"
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Dressed In Your Dreams
Dressed in Your Dreams was a part of Stagecrafters' New Works play festival in Royal Oaks, Michigan.
I adapted Dressed from this short story I wrote years ago. I'll give props to the inspiration for the short story right now ... at the end of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the lead character is wearing nothing but a black skirt ... at least, that's the way it was when I saw it on off-off-off Broadway (I'm talking so off that the taxi driver didn't want to leave me in the neighborhood). I remember thinking how beautiful he was in the skirt, and then I started wondering about how closely tied our modern sexual identities are tied to our clothes. Boys aren't supposed to wear skirts and makeup! Yet, in many ancient cultures men wore eyeliners and dresses all the time. So, that's what this is about.
An excerpt from Dressed in Your Dreams ...
SYLVIA: I love your eyes. I've never seen eyes so dark.
DINESH: Mother always said I had father's eyes. They hurt her.
SYLVIA: I think they're beautiful. They look like drops of oil, and the mascara makes your lashes like a gypsy's veil.
DINESH: Whenever my mother would say my eyes were like my father's, I would look in a mirror and stare into them. I would try to
see the man who had never hugged me or told me he loved me.
SYLVIA: Did you see him?
DINESH: Eventually.
SYLVIA (holding up a mirror): Do you see him now?
(Dinesh shakes his head and laughs.)
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Do You Proud
Do You Proud was a part of The Eclectic Theater Company's "Got a Minute?" play festival in Sarasota, Florida.
An excerpt from Do You Proud ...
MARIA: I don't want to leave you, Mrs. Frazier. You been like a mom to me. What if I don't see you again?
MRS. FRAZIER: Honey, you can't get rid of me. It's impossible. Don't think I won't be coming up to that school to check on you.
MARIA: You will?
MRS. FRAZIER: I will. You know, I was a foster kid too. Out on my own since I was 18. Seeing you succeed is like giving my first foster dad the finger all over again.
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The Rooster Never Crows
The Rooster Never Crows made its world debut at OneHeart Productions' Turning Point showcase in NYC, May 2008.
This play, based on a short story I wrote a while back, centers on Sasha and Mickey Cohen, a couple with dreams of a caviar farm in Bulgaria. To make their dream come true, Mickey enters their pet rooster, Tricky Dick, into his second cockfight. Sasha, who is pregnant, feels that Dick's survival is linked to that of their family.
An excerpt from The Rooster Never Crows ...
SASHA: Let's drop it then, Mickey. I was thinking Dick is outta his league today, but if you wanna lead him to slaughter, that's on you. You wanna scratch the thing I love most next to you and this baby, you go ahead.
MICKEY: Just this one last time, and then he can retire.
SASHA: Yeah, that's what you said last time.
MICKEY: That ain't work out money-wise, like I thought it would. This time I got a better purse.
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Whatever and Delicately
Whatever and Delicately was a part of Groove Mama Ink's Wonder Women Week II play festival on December 13. I directed the play, starring Sarah Coleman as Lisa and Inma Heredia as Yadra.
This play was originally going to be called The Presence of Beauty because it was inspired by Rita de Acosta Lydig, and like Mrs. Lydig, my main character is from Spain and wants to always be in the presence of beautiful things to help her cope with the ugly things of life. Well, to date, Mrs. Lydig remains an inspiration and the play is about class, as originally intended, but the part about beauty has been lost.
Here's the blurb about Whatver and Delicately: Bathroom maid Yadra teaches the daughter of a diplomat a thing or two about manners and making presumptions.
An excerpt from Whatever and Delicately ...
YADRA: When a lady wants to tip me, she looks me in the eye and hands me the money and thanks me for my service. I put her gift in my pocket. Someone who wants to throw a bill in a glass jar — or worse, a cut-up plastic something — that someone can keep her paper. It's worthless to me.
LISA: You probably lose a lot of money that way.
YADRA: Less than you would think, and you know, there's more to life than money.
LISA: So says the woman who sits next to a crapper all day.
From the actors:
Sarah Coleman is excited to be working with Pia on another show and to be part of this festival! Most recent roles include Miranda in The Tempest, Lala in Last Night at Ballyhoo and Rootie in a staged reading of Graceland. Sarah thanks her friends and family for their patience, support and humor. She is also a yoga instructor and in New York and LOVES TO MOVE!
A native of Seville, Spain, Inma Heredia has been showcased in a variety of entertainment settings as an actor, singer, flamenco dancer, comedienne, master-of-ceremonies, and voiceover artist. International tours of her one-woman flamenco-comedy act, When Women Speak Up, have garnered rave reviews. Inma was also the recipient of 2006 "Latinos Unidos" Press Award.
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