I’ve completed my new play WAVES.    The above is a quote that comes from one of the main characters who happens to dabble in writing but has been dealing with a severe case of writer’s bloc.   This is her words (or more accurately put, my words given to her).

The play centers around three wildly different, engaging women with contradictory shades.   They represent different generations – a grandmother, mother and daughter – all living under the same roof in a country house.  WAVES takes place in the back porch of this house and it is in this setting that these complicated women wrestle with various levels of grief, deep loss, incredible love and new life.  Each of their lives are at an inflection point when the play opens.   Their stories weave through a myriad of happy/painful memories while living in the oftentimes chaotic present and simultaneously grasping to embrace a hopeful, yet fragile future.  When the play concludes in its climax, some questions have been answered, but others are left dangling in a kind of mystery.   There are no easy answers for every question life throws at us.  For those left behind – the living – we must grapple with that mystery.

I began writing WAVES back in March.  It was a struggle to find a way into this story that I wanted to tell about not only what it means to grieve but also, grief’s partner – love.   WAVES is very much a story of unconditional love and how that love is tested when hardships pile on and the pathway going forward is no longer straight but filled with crooked routes and arrows.  How do we adjust?  What sacrifices do we make?  How do we let go and move on?  And where do we find the strength to face another day?  I wanted the play to delve into these hard questions and scenarios, not with a heavy hand but with a comedic touch.   This was one of the main goals I set out for this project.  I think I’ve succeeded.  I hope I have.  And one day when this play is performed in front of an audience, I’ll find out.

I love this quote by playwright Terrace McNally.  He takes the bull by the horn and tells writers in no uncertain terms that writing is not to be taken lightly.  If you’re going to do it, do it with all your might.

Completing any piece of writing is no easy task.  Ask any writer and they will tell you the same thing.  It is true that the writing often does flow and a story is written quickly, efficiently and happily.   But more often than not, it is a fight to face the blank page.  It is a daunting mountain to climb when you feel totally lost, mentally drained and unable to make any headway onto that steep hill.  WAVES was written over many months, and as the days passed, I kept chipping away at that mountain until I got to the top.  And I have to say, the view from here is awesome.

Finally, a quote from playwright Arthur Miller who echoes  similar sentiments as Terrance McNally: