The Greek Tale of Madea is a powerful piece that demonstrates what humans are capable of, not only the plays' header Madea, but her husband Jason, and the Kings; leaving us the spectator with a jaw-dropping perspective of the human condition. Themes of love (or lack of), exile, womanhood, and revenge speak loudly to me when I read the script, Love lost and love found as Jason leaves Madea for Glauce, daughter of King Creon and as Madea chooses to kill her own children to spite her husband; exile as Madea has been banished from not only her country, Corinth but also her marriage and home with Jason. Womanhood, in the sense that we hear her pain and the hurt that Euripides purposefully crafted to give Madea the strength to seek revenge once her life is pulled out from under her like a rug.

The Greek Tale of Madea is a powerful piece that demonstrates what humans are capable of, not only the plays' header Madea, but her husband Jason, and the Kings; leaving us the spectator with a jaw-dropping perspective of the human condition. Themes of love (or lack of), exile, womanhood, and revenge speak loudly to me when I read the script, Love lost and love found as Jason leaves Madea for Glauce, daughter of King Creon and as Madea chooses to kill her own children to spite her husband; exile as Madea has been banished from not only her country, Corinth but also her marriage and home with Jason. Womanhood, in the sense that we hear her pain and the hurt that Euripides purposefully crafted to give Madea the strength to seek revenge once her life is pulled out from under her like a rug.

When trying to decide which musical to direct for the 2019-2020 season, I was drawn to The Addams Family. This stage production brings to life the classic Addams characters originated by Charles Addams’ darkly humorous and macabre cartoons. Being a 90’s kid, I grew up with the movies and animated television series. Growing up, I fell in love with how the family managed to get through every adventure together, with passion, and being their authentic selves. It is this that truly makes the family so timeless, lovable, and a cult classic.

This production was chosen to travel and be performed at the annual Texas Thespian Festival as a main stage performance. I felt secure in the power of this script to challenge our actors in many ways. This script is set so that each scene is a different monologue from one of Santas reindeer, explaining their experiences with Santa and his less than jolly behavior and working conditions.

While reading this play in 2015, I was instantly creating the world I was reading about, even if it didn't match the description "suggested" in the script. I began imagining each scene in a hyper exaggerated futuristic world that had many hints of the modern world we are living in. Very sharp, robotic, the characters with iPads, iPhones, connecting to social media, tagging, and checking in. I wanted to explore a world where Big Brother was really always watching, collecting data, and around the corner waiting for you to get out of line. The citizens of Oceania were almost matching the citizens of today, glued to their devices, checking in, tagging, and collecting the data for Big Brother. Industries who have the power to use that information to create Algorithms that keep you working and posting to their subscriptions.