PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Bowles
ARTIST STATEMENT
I thrive as a writer when I begin with the archetypal core of what psychologist C. G. Jung called “the complexes” stirring inside me. From there pieces of a story, or glimpses of a character will be revealed, and the conflict - often from the character’s inner self, unconscious, or shadow self as I see them. By telling these stories my goal is to bring light to complexity and perhaps open a door to healing experiences for my audiences. Sometimes I infuse my personal history into the work and sometimes I use a tool called “active imagination.” As a person in mid-life seeking to open a new avenue for future creative work, I believe I have a perspective that many audiences could appreciate. Whether the piece is autobiographical as it was with my solo-show Nobody’s Bitch or whether it is based on the life of someone else, such as the writer Samuel Beckett from my current work, Samuel Beckett Unborn my writing process will weave fact with imagination while drilling deeper into the psychological through the concepts put forward by Jung. Astrology sometimes helps too. When I cast the chart of a living person or invent a chart based on the characters age I will use the information a chart reveals about the personality as a guide for writing dialogue and creating scenes. I was once called a fabulist by another writer. It’s a good label for me because it doesn’t have to mean I am a liar. It can also mean I am a magical realist. So I expect my writing will come from this point of view, hopefully with some hilarious results for the audience, even if I have to reveal something potentially embarrassing or painful about my history to get the story across.
What am I working on?
SAMUEL BECKETT UNBORN, a new play
Samuel Beckett begins psychoanalysis in London. With Dr. Bion, he remembers his stern mother, an unsatisfactory job, time with James Joyce, while his own writing reflects chaos. When Beckett attends a lecture by Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung, he learns of a girl who “was not entirely born.” Beckett identifies with her, sending him further into psychosis. He quits analysis. His mother kicks him out. Years later, Beckett hallucinates Bion and activates the Girl and Jung as his personified complexes so he can see the negative image of his mother. After a final confrontation with her, Beckett claims his power.
CORNFLAKES IS FUNNY: memoir, biography, theatre stories with people I have worked with including untold stories about actress Elaine Stritch. (30 Rock, September, Company)
CREATIVITY AND THE ARCHETYPES, guidebook, workshop
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