ARTISTIC STATEMENT

I believe in the subtext of every line, the thoughtful pause and each step taken by every character is the playwright. Plays are not simply words spoken by characters on stage; they are worlds wherein characters walk and run, fight and dance, love and hate. A play creates a universe in which characters commit themselves to actions, and these actions land on other characters and audience members, creating pain or fear, dread or hope, love or sadness. Actions are a purge for characters and the playwright as well. My plays hopefully happen in the audience and have happened in my own history. I was the person left behind, without community or a sense of fairness. I'm the little girl who was assaulted, who still mourns her daddy after 49 years, who watched mental illness and addiction drown my loved ones. For me, writing plays is a way of exorcising my own demons.

Sheila Duane

sheadua@comcast.net

NPX: https://newplayexchange.org/users/10210/sheila-duane

I am a playwright who currently teaches English and Writing at Brookdale Community College.

READINGS / PERFORMANCES

The Mystic Stone of Larabanga, monologue, Brookdale Community College, February, 2023.

Experts, Act One Play Festival, The Magnetic Theater, North Caroline. November 2022. Full Performance.

You Don’t Know What a Monster Is, Jersey Shore Arts Center, August 2022. Reading.

Wanna Sing the Blues, LoveFest Femuscripts, Florida and online, May 2022. Full Performance.

The Palmist, Downtown Urban Arts Festival NYC, June 2022. Full performance.

The Loom, Downtown Urban Arts Festival NYC, June 2021. Full performance.

Restoration Parts, Downtown Urban Arts Festival NYC, June 2020. Third place – production cancelled due to pandemic. Film Noir on Stage Festival – Director and Coordinator through Dromio Players – 2019.

Femme Fatales Don’t Die of Old Age – JSAC, NJ – 2019.

Ghosts of the Morro Castle – JSAC – 2019.

Restoration Parts – Middletown Arts Center – 2019.

The Circus Master and the Peanut Dancer performed with The Theater Project at Think Fast Festival in March 2019. Conferences performed at the Women Theater Company at the Parsippany Playhouse in 2019.

Bridget’s Hanging performed at the Holmdel Theater Company in March 2019.

PUBLISHED WORKS

Waiting for Gordie https://www.lulu.com/shop/som/hello-godot-volume-3/paperback/productd5mk7g.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Bridget’s Hanging http://www.bridgetshanging.com/