When marketing a play or yourself as a playwright, you're supposed to hone and craft your words meticulously. In a MFA program, you work on developing your voice, and learning how to sell yourself to people you want to read or review your work.
I'm not very good at that.
Perhaps, it's laziness. Perhaps, it's the desire to not limit myself or put myself in a box. It makes sense to do it well. People have been asking me what "Moraine" is about, and I stare at them in panic. Then I say--
"It's about this former couple who haven't seen each other for 18 months and have to meet up again in the hospital of a good friend who's passing away from cancer."
I guess that's what it's about. That's the plot. The logline or whatever.
It's also about Time.
In yoga or meditation, you're constantly reminded to be in the present. Pull yourself back to the present. Don't worry about the past or the future as that doesn't do you any good. You can only act and be active in the present.
I don't often live in the present. My mind is usually in the past or the future. I see images as clearly as I first did. I feel emotions as strongly. I talk out loud. I clench my fists. I smile. I laugh.
This play is inspired by Mike Enriquez. He was a former improv coach who passed away at 42. I have many friends, who were closer, but he coached the improv team that was responsible for forming some of my closest relationships. I gave a tribute about him for Christopher Piatt's Paper Machete that you can listen to. I just listened to it for the first time since I did it. It's not great, but gives you a sense of who he is.
Moraine was inspired by Mike's last night in a Lakeview hospital. The lobby was filled with some of his family members. It was also filled with a couple of dozen improv friends. They weren't just friends. It was like the lobby was filled with two dozen brothers and sisters. Some closer to Mike than others. Some got along, some didn't. But it was a family. I thought this is what dying is in a big city now. People that live in Chicago, or New York, or L.A. don't usually grow up there. But to survive in these cities, you have to form familial like tribes. People you spend some holidays with. People whose weddings you're in, and who throw you baby showers, and know you best as an adult. All adults have friends, but this felt different. Maybe it's the arts thing. Or maybe it was a theater or improv thing. Or maybe it's a Chicago arts thing. We need each other to survive. We need each other as friends and lovers. We need each other as family.
Moraine doesn't just take place in the hospital. It bounces back and forth and time to see how this group of five strangers befriended each other. It's so we can see how Mark and Kelly, the former couple, fell in and out of love. We see how friendship can transcend past fights and trauma.
Moraine is a completely work of fiction. 100%. It's heart is about about my ten plus years here in Chicago, and the people I call my family. It's heart is 100% true.
I'm not very good at that.
Perhaps, it's laziness. Perhaps, it's the desire to not limit myself or put myself in a box. It makes sense to do it well. People have been asking me what "Moraine" is about, and I stare at them in panic. Then I say--
"It's about this former couple who haven't seen each other for 18 months and have to meet up again in the hospital of a good friend who's passing away from cancer."
I guess that's what it's about. That's the plot. The logline or whatever.
It's also about Time.
In yoga or meditation, you're constantly reminded to be in the present. Pull yourself back to the present. Don't worry about the past or the future as that doesn't do you any good. You can only act and be active in the present.
I don't often live in the present. My mind is usually in the past or the future. I see images as clearly as I first did. I feel emotions as strongly. I talk out loud. I clench my fists. I smile. I laugh.
This play is inspired by Mike Enriquez. He was a former improv coach who passed away at 42. I have many friends, who were closer, but he coached the improv team that was responsible for forming some of my closest relationships. I gave a tribute about him for Christopher Piatt's Paper Machete that you can listen to. I just listened to it for the first time since I did it. It's not great, but gives you a sense of who he is.
Moraine was inspired by Mike's last night in a Lakeview hospital. The lobby was filled with some of his family members. It was also filled with a couple of dozen improv friends. They weren't just friends. It was like the lobby was filled with two dozen brothers and sisters. Some closer to Mike than others. Some got along, some didn't. But it was a family. I thought this is what dying is in a big city now. People that live in Chicago, or New York, or L.A. don't usually grow up there. But to survive in these cities, you have to form familial like tribes. People you spend some holidays with. People whose weddings you're in, and who throw you baby showers, and know you best as an adult. All adults have friends, but this felt different. Maybe it's the arts thing. Or maybe it was a theater or improv thing. Or maybe it's a Chicago arts thing. We need each other to survive. We need each other as friends and lovers. We need each other as family.
Moraine doesn't just take place in the hospital. It bounces back and forth and time to see how this group of five strangers befriended each other. It's so we can see how Mark and Kelly, the former couple, fell in and out of love. We see how friendship can transcend past fights and trauma.
Moraine is a completely work of fiction. 100%. It's heart is about about my ten plus years here in Chicago, and the people I call my family. It's heart is 100% true.