American Stage
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Grantors
Sponsors
Special Thanks
- Willi Rudowsky & Hal Freedman
- Russell Buchan
- Beth A. Houghon & Scott K. Wagman
- Gwendolyn & Gordon Johnson
Donors
We would like to thank all of the donors that helped make this season possible.
Donors
Tributes
Tributes
Performers
Jada Austin
*
Nana
Massiel Evans
*
Mercy
Jennifer Leigh Warren
*
Eloise Ampohsah
Aguel Lual
*
Paulina Sarpong
Siobhan Marie Hunter
*
Ericka Boafo
Phineas Slaton
*
Gifty
Ivy Sunflower
*
Ama
Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
*
Headmistress Francis
Setting
Aburi boarding school in central Ghana, 1986
There will be no intermission
Songs & Scenes
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
“Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an International organization of performing arts unions. www.actorsequity.org
Production Staff
Venue Staff
School Administration Staff
Musicians
Board of Trustees
Chair
Anastasia C. Hiotis
Vice Chair
Gina Clement
Treasurer
Trevor Wells, CPA
Administrative Officer
Joe Weldon
Board Members
Rev. Michael Alford, Ebrahim Busheri, Dexter Fabian, Alistair Flynn, Joel B. Giles, Alais L. M. Griffin, Will Hough, Sherri Smith-Dodgson, Cathy P. Swanson, Steven W. Walker
Student Advisory Board
Meet the Cast
Jada Austin
*
is a singer and actress from Clearwater, FL. She is thrilled to be returning to the stage after three years away and making her American stage debut. She was most recently seen as a character performer at ZooTampa as well as a vocalist at Disney’s Candlelight Processional. She would like to thank her family and her boyfriend, Eduardo, for encouraging her to follow her dreams.
Massiel Evans
*
is a passionate island girl from Nassau, The Bahamas. She recently received her Bachelor’s degree in Acting and Directing from Eastern Connecticut State University along with a film studies minor. While in The Bahamas, Massiel has starred in two local plays and one local bahamian movie. Her first year in undergrad she received the leading role in a main stage production called Chitra. Since then she has starred in four other shows as an actress, two shows as an assistant director for Eastern and for a professional theater company, Spectrum Theater and ended her college career by directing a main stage production called Blood at the Root. She has also written, directed and filmed two small pieces under her film studies minor. She made her American stage debut last year in The Odd Couple as Cecily and now she is excited to be casted in the show School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play as Mercy.
Jennifer Leigh Warren
*
is lauded for her show-stopping Broadway performances as the original Alice’s Daughter in "Big River" (singing “How Blest We Are” written for her by composer Roger Miller), the original Crystal in the Howard Ashman/Alan Menken hit "Little Shop Of Horrors," the original Marie Christine cast and "RENT:Live." "In Power To The People," she made her Disney Concert Hall debut with the LA Philharmonic, appeared in Sir Peter Hall’s Shakespeare Repertory Company, won the Ovation Award in "Hello Again." She also won two BroadwayWorld awards (seven nominations) and her solo concert, “Diamonds Are Forever: Songs of Dame Shirley Bassey” directed by Richard Jay-Alexander. Films include the Martin Scorsese produced/Alison Anders directed “Grace of my Heart,” Sean Penn’s “The Crossing Guard,” Garry Marshall’s “Valentines Day,” “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” Larry David’s “Sour Grapes.” TV: “Pretty Little Liars,” “Lipstick jungle,” “ER,” “Scrubs.” She is a proud Dartmouth College graduate and AEA/SAG-AFTRA member.
Aguel Lual
*
is a New York based, Nebraska raised actor, and the proud daughter of South Sudanese refugees. Some of her favorite credits include Mash in Stupid F*Cking Bird (Parallel 45) and Ronny in Hair (Nebraska Repertory Theatre).
Siobhan Marie Hunter
*
is thrilled to make her debut at American Stage! Other credits include Diane in [cowboy face] (Dixon Place), Black in The Mis-Education of America (Letter of Marque) and Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show (JCC CenterStage Theater). She received her B.A. in Theater Arts from SUNY Fredonia. Siobhan would like to give special thanks to her Mother, Grandparents, the rest of her family and friends for always uplifting and supporting her work.
Phineas Slaton
*
is a young artist living in Brandon and St. Petersburg. While currently minoring in theatre at Eckerd College, they have been seen at St. Petersburg City Theater with credits such as Corie in Barefoot In The Park, and Sapphi Van Helsing in Dracula: The Vampire Strikes Back. Recent credits include Rafiki in The Lion King, The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, and a directing credit of The Perfect Ending at Howard W. Blake High School of the Arts. Phineas is extremely excited to be joining American Stage with this opportunity and can’t wait to see the show come to life!
Ivy Sunflower
*
has recently been seen as Jenny Rappaport in the featured film "I Need I Want." Additionally as Mom in the comedy film “What Tha Hell," “The Decision” as Belinda, and Shaun in the comedy series “Nothing Else Matters." However, Ms. Sunflower’s first love is the stage. Cassandra in Big Girls Need Love Too (Inkwell Centre), A Conversation With Myself as April (Outcast Theatre Collective), and behind the scenes as the Assistant Director of Dionysus On The Down Low (Outcast Theatre Collective) have been a few. Ivy also teaches improv virtually for beginner performers. She’s working to open up a black box theatre for the community. She received her degree from Broward College and has trained with Robert Nation, A TALE OF TWO CITIES and Daniel Torres, EVITA. Ivy wants to thank her partner Cash, her family and friends for their support in making this dream happen.
Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
*
was most recently seen in “Shameless” and has performed in over 30 films including “New Jack City,” “What’s Love Got To Do With It?,” “The Inkwell,” “Malcolm X.” However, Theatre is where it all began for Ms. Stickney from Harlem’s New Heritage Theatre to Lincoln Center and the various theatre festivals and events her career spans 40 years. Winning 1st place at the world famous Apollo Theatre is also one of her many accomplishments.
Ms. Stickney was named “one of the 200 African American women who has changed the World”. Comedy or drama Ms. Stickney is comfortable with any genre and aims to bring her best to any role. An AUDELCO AWARD recipient in 1998 Ms. Stickney was inducted into the Black Hall of Fame, in 2006 and various years she received the CUSTODIAN OF THE CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS AWARD, C.T.Vivian passed the TORCH OF LEADERSHIP to Ms. Stickney among others. I thank Mr. Maharaj for including me in his vision and I dedicate these performances to my amazing parents.
Meet the Team
Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj
*
is a multi-disciplinary American Theater Artist, Administrator, and Activist. Mr. Maharaj was twice hailed in The New York Times as a Critics Pick for his work in the American Theater and a member of the BIPOC Leadership Circle. He is currently the Producing Artistic Director and Resident Playwright of American Stage.
Mr. Maharaj has been honored with many awards including the prestigious Woodie King Jr. Award, four Vivian Robinson AUDELCO Awards, Barrymore Award, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Theatrical Moment of the Year, The New York International Fringe Festival Overall Excellence Award, Theater Communications Group Directors Grant and Playwriting Grant, Recipient of the 2020 National Alliance for Musical Theater Fifteen-Minute Musical Theater Challenge Award.
As a storyteller, Mr. Maharaj has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at many of our nation’s top Regional Theaters including the Bernard B. Jacobs, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, The Public, Second Stage Theatre, Soho Playhouse, Classical Theater of Harlem, , Nuyorican Poets Café, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Lark Play Development Center, Actors Theater of Louisville, Goodman Theater, The Kennedy Center, and Arkansas Repertory Theater.
Mr. Maharaj’s was a finalist for the 2021 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. And he is the recipient of the 2021 Negro Ensemble Company Cutting Edge Playhouse Playwriting Residency.
Ryan Finzelber
*
is a Tacoma, WA based scenic and lighting designer originally from Sarasota, FL. Recent designs include Between Riverside & Crazy, Much Ado About Nothing (American Stage), Safe House, The Feast, Sender, The Niceties (Urbanite Theatre), Christmastown – a Holiday Noir, Companion Piece, Every Brilliant Thing, The Arsonists, Adaptive Radiation (Denizen Theatre), Hir, The Threepenny Opera (Jobsite Theatre). Recent awards: Orlando Sentinel – Best Lighting Design, 1984 (2019), Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Best Lighting Design, Northside Hollow (2018), Theatre Tampa Bay – Outstanding Lighting Design, A Skull in Connemara (2017), Imagining Madoff (2015), The Threepenny Opera (nom) (2018), Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche (nom) (2016), Creative Loafing Best of the Bay – Lighting Designer (runner up) (2017). Visit Ryan's website for information, production photos, and more!
Dan Granke
*
Dan is a Director, Fight Director, Intimacy Director, and Movement Specialist based in Tampa, Fl. Fight Direction Credits include: Vietgone, Long Days Journey into Night, Bad Jews, and The Invisible Hand (American Stage), Sender, Dyke, and Dry land (Urbanite Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, Jekyll and Hyde, and As You Like it (Jobsite) Neighbors, Assassins, and No6 (Studio at Tierra Del Sol) Dearly Departed and The Piano Lesson (Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe). They are a Certified Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors and are a Certified Intimacy Director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators.
Jessica Jennelle
*
was most recently seen as Ginette in ALMOST, MAINE at West Coast Players. Other roles include THE LARAMIE PROJECT, MEDEA, and LAUGHING STOCK all at St. Petersburg College Arts Dept. She also worked on productions such as PIPPIN and INTO THE WOODS as a Props Master. She is currently studying at St. Petersburg College finishing up her transfer program to University of South Florida.
Saidah Ben Judah
*
Through Saidah's long association with the New York Shakespeare Festival/ Joseph Papp Theater, she has worked with fine actors such as Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage, Christopher Walken, Jeffrey White, Jimmie Smits to name a few. She designed the August Wilson Century Cycle for American Stage and numerous productions for the Studio@620 including Voodoo MacBeth.
Hannah Hockman
*
recently graduated from Eckerd College with BA in Theatre with minors in Marketing and Music. She has spent two summers studying in New York City with The Atlantic Acting School and The Circle in the Square Conservatory. Her favorite roles include the lead role in Feinstein’s/54 Below concert of CALL IT IN THE AIR and Steve in SHE KILLS MONSTERS. She recently made her directorial debut with HEATHERS THE MUSICAL, Eckerd’s first student run musical. Hannah is excited to work with American Stage and to continue to grow as an artist.
Kelli Karen
*
Kelli is excited to be part of the creative team of School Girls. Kelli has taught and created outreach theatre programs at Care Pointes in Swaziland, South Africa, Girls Incorporated and The Boys and Girls Club in Sarasota, Florida. She has taught playwriting classes at numerous elementary schools in Sarasota County as well as Dunfermline, Scotland. Her other credits include Production Team for A Night With Crossroads Theatre Company: Honoring Denzel Washington (State Theatre New Jersey). Off-Broadway: Fly (The New Victory Theater). Selected Regional Credits: Radio Golf (Gulfshore Playhouse), Fly (Pasadena Playhouse, Crossroads Theatre Company, Oprah Winfrey Theater Smithsonian), Handle With Care, Straight White Men, Heisenberg, Clever Little Lies, Inspired Lunacy, Fly, Taking Shakespeare, Daddy Long Legs, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Steve Martin’s The Underpants, The World Goes‘ Round, Smokey Joe’s Café, Perfect Wedding, Next Fall, Next to Normal, Ghost-Writer, Shear Madness, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, The 39 Steps, Beehive: The 60s Musical, Ruined, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Edward Albee’s Occupant, and Motown Cabaret (Florida Studio Theatre). This performance is dedicated to my parents, Chakoo, and The Patterson Foundation.
Harlan D. Penn
*
is a graduate of Florida A & M University and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. The South Florida native has designed for off-Broadway, Off Off Broadway, cable television, regional theatre, and educational theatre. Design credits include: For Colored Girls, Blues For An Alabama Sky, On Striver's Row, Flyin' West, Dreamgirls, Seven Guitars, Gem Of The Ocean, Jitney, Radio Golf, King Hedley Ii, Chained Dog, Drumline Live (International tour), The Mighty Gents, Camp Logan, Buried Child, Looking, Catch Me If You Can, and The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby to name a few. In addition, Mr. Penn is a member of the Theatre Arts faculty at Howard University where he teaches Scenic Design. Harlan is thrilled to be a part of this production at American Stage.
Shelby Smotherman
*
Shelby is thrilled to join American Stage for her 6th season. She works in a variety of specialties including carpentry, painting, & properties, in addition to working as an A/V technician and stage manager. Shortly after beginning her career, she received her Master of Fine Arts from Stetson University’s interdisciplinary & experimental Creative Writing program. Some of Shelby’s scenic credits as Properties Designer include The Odd Couple, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (American Stage); Little Women, The Arsonists, 9 To 5 (University of Tampa); and as Charge Artist Skeleton Crew, Vietgone, Silent Sky, Fun Home, Tartuffe, (American Stage); A Macbeth, Sondheim On Sondheim (University of Tampa); Madama Butterfly (St. Petersburg Opera). Some of her favorite credits include scenic artist for Spamalot (American Stage in the Park), Good People (American Stage); lighting designer for Masquerade (Carrollwood Cultural Center); properties designer for Sordid Lives (University of Tampa), and stage manager for Underneath The Freeways Of Los Angeles (Echo Theater).
Paul Edward Wilt
*
is a non-binary, LGBTQ+ artist, administrator, and activist who specializes in theater, music, and sound design/music production. They served as Artistic Associate for Rebel Theater Company, and producer for productions regionally in Brooklyn, and Off-Broadway. They are also an editor for the acclaimed show, “Sunday Civics,” on Sirius XM Radio.
They have collaborated with many prestigious organizations including Milwaukee Repertory Theater, NASA, Yale University, The Kennedy Center, Stand Up to Cancer, Playbill, and the Brooklyn NAACP.
Paul has received many prestigious awards for their work including the 2020 NAMT Musical Theater Award, Silver Medal Recipient for the Classical Singer National Vocal Competition, and a BBC News Feature for composition.
Marquee Digital
*
Marquee Digital is a New York-based tech startup innovating the theatre industry with ground-breaking digital program solutions. The Marquee is a paperless program for the 21st century, employing contactless, eco-friendly, and ADA-compliant technology to create an interactive and highly intuitive experience for audiences at the theatre, opera, art fairs, conferences, and concerts. In the company’s first year, Marquees had been opened in venues across the United States and in more than 80 countries around the globe.
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While You Wait
With the help of our friends at Theatrely.com, Marquee Digital has you covered with exclusive content while you wait for the curtain to rise.
EXCLUSIVE: Watch A Clip From THEATER CAMP Starring Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Molly Gordon
Finally, summer has arrived, which can only mean one thing: it's time for camp! Theater Camp, that is. Theatrely has a sneak peak at the new film which hits select theaters today.
The new original comedy starring Tony Award winner Ben Platt and Molly Gordon we guarantee will have you laughing non-stop. The AdirondACTS, a run-down theater camp in upstate New York, is attended by theater-loving children who must work hard to keep their beloved theater camp afloat after the founder, Joan, falls into a coma.
The film stars Ben Platt and Molly Gordon as Amos Klobuchar and Rebecca-Diane, respectively, as well as Noah Galvin as Glenn Wintrop, Jimmy Tatro as Troy Rubinsky, Patti Harrison as Caroline Krauss, Nathan Lee Graham as Clive DeWitt, Ayo Edebiri as Janet Walch, Owen Thiele as Gigi Charbonier, Caroline Aaron as Rita Cohen, Amy Sedaris as Joan Rubinsky, and Alan Kim as Alan Park.
Theater Camp was directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and written by Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman & Ben Platt. Music is by James McAlister and Mark Sonnenblick. On January 21, 2023, Theater Camp had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
You can purchase tickets to the new film from our friends at Hollywood.com here.
READ: An Excerpt From Sean Hayes Debut YA Novel TIME OUT
Actor Sean Hayes is what we in the biz call booked and blessed. On top of his Tony-nominated performance as Oscar Levant in Good Night, Oscar, Hayes has partnered with Todd Milliner and Carlyn Greenwald for the release of their new YA novel Time Out.
Heralded by many as Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights, Time Out follows hometown basketball hero Barclay Elliot who decides to use a pep rally to come out to his school. When the response is not what he had hoped and the hostility continually growing, he turns to his best friend Amy who brings him to her voting rights group at school. There he finds Christopher and… you will just have to grab a copy and find out what happens next. Luckily for you, Time Out hits shelves on May 30 and to hold you over until then we have a special except from the book just for Theatrely:
The good thing about not being on the team the past two weeks has been that I’ve had time to start picking up shifts again at Beau’s diner and save up a little for college now that my scholarship dreams are over.
The bad part is it’s the perfect place to see how my actions at the pep rally have rotted the townspeople’s brains too.
During Amy’s very intense musical theater phase in middle school, her parents took her to New York City. And of course she came back home buzzing about Broadway and how beautiful the piss smell was and everything artsy people say about New York. But she also vividly described some diner she waited three hours to get into where the waitstaff would all perform songs for the customers as a way to practice for auditions. The regulars would have favorite staff members and stan them the way Amy stans all her emo musicians.
Working at Beau’s used to feel kind of like that, like I was part of a performance team I didn’t know I signed up for. The job started off pretty basic over the summer—I wanted to save up for basketball supplies, and Amy worked there and said it was boring ever since her e-girl coworker friend graduated. But I couldn’t get through a single lunch rush table without someone calling me over and wanting the inside scoop on the Wildcats and how we were preparing for the home opener, wanting me to sign an article in the paper or take a photo. Every friendly face just made the resolve grow inside me. People love and support the Wildcats; they would do the same for me.
Yeah, right.
Now just like school, customers have been glaring at me, making comments about letting everyone down, about being selfish, about my actions being “unfortunate,” and the tips have been essentially nonexistent. The Wildcats have been obliterated in half their games since I quit, carrying a 2–3 record when last year we were 5–0, and the comments make my feet feel like lead weights I have to drag through every shift.
Today is no different. It’s Thursday, the usual dinner rush at Beau’s, and I try to stay focused on the stress of balancing seven milkshakes on one platter. A group of regulars, some construction workers, keep loudly wondering why I won’t come back to the team while I refuse proper eye contact.
One of the guys looks up at me as I drop the bill off. “So, what’s the deal? Does being queer keep ya from physically being able to play?”
They all snicker as they pull out crumpled bills. I stuff my hands into my pockets, holding my tongue.
When they leave, I hold my breath as I take their bill.
Sure enough, no tip.
“What the fuck?” I mutter under my breath.
“Language,” Amy says as she glides past me, imitating the way Richard says it to her every shift, and adds, “even though they are dicks.” At least Amy’s been ranting about it every free chance she gets. It was one thing when the student body was being shitty about me leaving the team, but the town being like this is even more infuriating. She doesn’t understand how these fully grown adults can really care that much about high school basketball and thinks they need a new fucking hobby. I finally agree with her.
[She’s wearing red lipstick to go with her raccoon-adjacent eyeliner as she rushes off to prepare milkshakes for a pack of middle schoolers. I catch her mid–death glare as all three of the kids rotate in their chairs, making the old things squeal. My anger fades a bit as I can’t help but chuckle; Amy’s pissed-off reaction to Richard telling her to smile more was said raccoon makeup, and her tolerance for buffoonery has been at a negative five to start and declining fast.
I rest my arms on the counter and try not to look as exhausted as I feel.
“Excuse me!” an old lady screeches, making me jump.
Amy covers up a laugh as I head to the old lady and her husband’s table. They’ve got finished plates, full waters. Not sure what the problem is. Or I do, which is worse.
“Yes?” I say trying to suppress my annoyance.
“Could you be bothered to serve us?”
Only five more hours on shift. I have a break in three minutes. I’ll be with Devin at Georgia Tech tomorrow. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” I say, so careful to keep my words even, but I can feel my hands balling into fists. “What would you—?”
And suddenly Amy swoops in, dropping two mugs of coffee down. “Sorry about that, you two,” she says, her voice extra high. “The machine was conking out on us, but it’s fine now.”
Once the coffee is down, she hooks onto a chunk of my shirt, steering us back to the bar.
“Thanks,” I mutter, embarrassed to have forgotten something so basic. Again.
“Just keep it together, man,” she says. “Maybe you’d be better off with that creepy night shift where all the truckers and serial killers come in.”
Honestly, at least the serial killers wouldn’t care about my jump shot.
It’s a few minutes before my break, but clearly I need it. “I’ll be in the back room.”
Right before I can head that way though, someone straight-up bursts into the diner and rushes over to me at the bar. It’s a middle-aged dad type, sunburned skin, beer belly, and stained T-shirt.
“Pickup order?” I ask.
“You should be ashamed,” he sneers at me. He has a really strong Southern accent, but it’s not Georgian. “Think you’re so high and mighty, that nothing’ll ever affect you? My kid’ll never go to college because of you and your lifestyle. Fuck you, Barclay Ell—”
And before this man can finish cursing my name, Pat of all people runs in, wide-eyed in humiliation. “Jesus, Dad, please don’t—”
I pin my gaze on him, remembering how he cowered on the bench as Ostrowski went off, how he didn’t even try to approach me. “Don’t even bother,” I snap.
I shove a to-go bag into his dad’s arms, relieved it’s prepaid, and storm off to the break room.]
Amy finds me head in my arms a minute or two later. I look up, rubbing my eyes. “Please spare me the pity.”
She snorts and hands me a milkshake. Mint chocolate chip. “Wouldn’t dare.” She takes a seat and rolls her shoulders and neck, cracks sounding through the tiny room. “Do you want a distraction or a shoulder to cry on?”
For more information, and to purchase your copy of Time Out, click here.
Reframing the COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Stage Manager’s Eyes
When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency in the United States in March 2020, Broadway veteran stage manager Richard Hester watched the nation’s anxiety unfold on social media.
“No one knew what the virus was going to do,” Hester said. Some people were “losing their minds in abject terror, and then there were some people who were completely denying the whole thing.”
For Hester, the reaction at times felt like something out of a movie. “It was like the Black Plague,” he said. “Some people thought it was going to be like that Monty Python sketch: ‘bring out your dead, bring out your dead.’”
While Hester was also unsure about how the virus would unfold, he felt that his “job as a stage manager is to naturally defuse drama.” Hester brought this approach off the stage and onto social media in the wake of the pandemic.
“I just sort of synthesized everything that was happening into what I thought was a manageable bite, so people could get it,” Hester said. This became a daily exercise for a year. Over two years after the beginning of the pandemic, Hester’s accounts are compiled in the book, Hold Please: Stage Managing A Pandemic. Released earlier this year, the book documents the events of the past two years, filtering national events and day-to-day occurrences through a stage manager’s eyes and storytelling.
When Hester started this project, he had no intention of writing a book. He was originally writing every day because there was nothing else to do. “I am somebody who needs a job or needs a structure,” Hester said.
Surprised to find that people began expecting his daily posts, he began publishing his daily writing to his followers through a Substack newsletter. As his following grew, Hester had to get used to writing for an audience. “I started second guessing myself a lot of the time,” Hester said. “It just sort of put a weird pressure on it.”
Hester said he got especially nervous before publishing posts in which he wrote about more personal topics. For example, some of his posts focused on his experiences growing up in South Africa while others centered on potentially divisive topics, such as the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Despite some of this discomfort, Hester’s more personal posts were often the ones that got the most response. The experience offered him a writing lesson. “I stopped worrying about the audience and just wrote what I wanted to write about,” Hester said. “All of that pressure that I think as artists we put on ourselves, I got used to it.”
One of Hester’s favorite anecdotes featured in the book centers on a woman who dances in Washington Square Park on a canvas, rain or shine. He said he was “mesmerized by her,” which inspired him to write about her. “It was literally snowing and she was barefoot on her canvas dancing, and that seems to me just a spectacularly beautiful metaphor for everything that we all try and do, and she was living that to the fullest.”
During the creation of Hold Please, Hester got the unique opportunity to reflect in-depth on the first year of the pandemic by looking back at his accounts. He realized that post people would not remember the details of the lockdown; people would “remember it as a gap in their lives, but they weren’t going to remember it beat by beat.”
“Reliving each of those moments made me realize just how full a year it was, even though none of us were doing anything outside,” he adds. “We were all on our couches.” Readers will use the book as a way to relive moments of the pandemic’s first year “without having to wallow in the misery of it,” he hopes.
“I talk about the misery of it, but that’s not the focus of what I wrote... it was about hope and moving forward,” Hester said. “In these times when everything is so difficult, we will figure out a way to get through and we will move forward.”
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Theatre is all about connection. Follow us to keep in touch and stay up to date on all the latest news!
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