Brookwrite
Playwright
Full Length Play
Premiered September 7, 2007
The Tabard Theatre Company
In politics, art, social action, or during battle, extraordinary women fill the history of California. Seven of these women converge to show California from its start through the 1960s, through the distinct lenses of their lives and achievements:
- Jessie Fremont (politician's wife, made original expedition possible)
- Mary Ellen Pleasant (civil rights figure)
- Toby Winema Riddle (Indian interpreter, amid Indian conflicts)
- Tye Leung Schulze (immigration interpreter, first Chinese pre-suffrage voter)
- Julia Morgan (most prolific architect in history)
- Mary Austin (pre-Feminist author, activist)
- Dorothea Lange (photojournalist)
Inspired by the eponymous book by Erin H. Turner (see sidebar), six other authors collaborated by drafting scenes for the seven women. I was brought in a month before rehearsals to pull them together, chronologically interweave them, smooth the transitions, create a prologue and epilogue, and rewrite as needed to bring a single voice and story. I ended up credited as Principal Writer.
I also ended up serving as assistant director of the production, as well as creator of the extensive projections used throughout the show.
Available for production. Originally performed with 7f, 3m; larger casts are possible.
Read the first ten pages
More Than Petticoats was inspired by:
Available at Amazon.com
Reviews: Tabard Theatre's World Premiere Production
"The play unfolds and enfolds seven women's stories in a fascinating procession... amazingly lucid... enthralls with an unending parade of fascinating factoids and little-known history." -- Metro Silicon Valley
"...the kind of piece that you not only enjoy as a performance but one which whets your curiosity..."
"An excellent vehicle for an evening's entertainment... the value was in the history I learned." -- Campbell Express
