- What’s this play about? Please give us a brief synopsis (a sentence or two) and also talk about what you believe to be the most important theme(s) in the play.
MIRACLE VILLAGE tells the story of a self-sufficient Christian community of sex offenders in rural Florida on the trying path toward rehabilitation. The play is about justice, new relationships, new challenges, identity, temptations, and survival. It also questions our capacity and need for rehabilitation, how we handle crisis when the tables are turned on us, and the role that religion and spirituality play in our lives when we are most vulnerable.
- Why did you want to write about this subject/theme?
Through my research, I was struck by the aggressive forever stamp of an offender, regardless of sex offense committed. The college kid who drunkenly urinates on the quad and gets convicted for indecent exposure suffers the same life-long branding as the serial rapist. Offenders struggle to find housing that’s the appropriate distance from parks or schools, they struggle to find employment, and they struggle to maintain the relationships they once had. The life they lived prior to their conviction disappears, and they’re released back into a society that is emotionally hardened against them. Do all sex offenders deserve to be eternally bound to their conviction? Where is the line? Who cares about that line? Fights for that line? And how do our fears, politics, values, expectations, and spirituality impact the harsh reality offenders face after their sentence? I wanted to navigate this unfamiliar world, reflect the spectrum of sex offender, and approach the subject from the perspectives of a diverse range of characters – housed together in this unusual haven to heal. They each live in a gray murkiness where their past is dark, their future is bleak, and the now is about grasping at straws of hope to find their place in a world that may or may not ever accept them.
- How did you decide what names to give the characters in this play?
Love this question. Well, I’ve got a bunch of characters: First I came up with the characters and their offense. The names followed immediately after and haven’t changed. Mart Marshall, a 57-year-old bumbling tennis coach and the director of Miracle Village; Chase Blessing, a late 30s pray-the-gay-away choir teacher; PJ Mac, a 21-year-old UF frat boy; Miss Chelsea, a 40-year-old black male-to-female transgender prostitute; Juliet Garcia, a 19-year-old newbie to Miracle Village; Gayle Harrison, the 60-year-old social worker; and her Asperger’s son, Leif (pronounced “Life”). I chose Mart Marshall for the goofy alliteration; Chase Blessing for the religious irony; PJ Mac for the bro-like simplicity; Miss Chelsea for its sort of sexy, sort of boisterous feel; Juliet for its naivety; Gayle for its maternal energy and meaning of “happy God”; and Leif for its meaning of “beloved son.”
- Describe your writing process. Do you write longhand, on a computer, a tablet? Do you write every day? Do you outline the play beforehand?
A friend of mine passed along an article about the real Miracle Village last August. I knew right off the bat it would inspire the setting of my next play. Within days I had immersed myself in the bizarre sugar cane farm, Floridian sex offender rehab world, reading every interview and news article I could find. I poured over The Modern Day Leper by Miracle Village founder and pastor, Dick Witherow. Then came the month of stewing and brewing until I knew what I wanted to say, who was going to say it, and how. I started with the first and last scene, then filled in all the rest. Draft One took me three weeks. Though upon feedback from friends/collaborators, that script changed tremendously over the course of a year. Now, I have…8 drafts.
- Is there a character in this play that you particularly identify with? Which one, and why?
Oy. That’s a hard question because I love each of these characters, but some of them have done terrible, inexcusable things. There really isn’t one I particularly identify with. I guess I’d say I admire Chase for his passion and directness. Mart for his undying commitment to rehabilitation and spirituality, however tempting it is for him to stray. Miss Chelsea for her crassness, perseverance, and mother bear intuition. Juliet for her blurred sense of innocence, founded angst, and desperation to survive in spite of the heavy hand life has dealt her. PJ for his bro-dude, surfer-fratty, I-don’t-give-a-f*ck sense of humor coupled with his surprising sensitivity. And Gayle for her honorable intentions, however sour they turn.
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