Judith Thompson

When the Playwright Goes Prose: In Conversation with Haley McGee

My process with solo shows involves sharing bits of text with audiences when I don’t really know where it’s going, or how it’s going to end. I’m pivoting myself to the responses from the audience — I sniff out where I want to go, and how I want to shape the piece. Through creating solo shows, I discovered how much I love this direct, unfettered relationship with an audience.

Where are the playwrights?

In my final critique at the National Theatre School of Canada some 40 years ago, Joel Miller, who at the time was running the English acting program, turned to me and said “we know you have had some success with your little monologues and mask characters here, but do not ever, ever think you can be a playwright.”

Disability, Represented

I cannot deny being moved by some of those performances, but that doesn’t minimize the reality of appropriation.