My Mother's in the Audience (Copy)

My Mother's in the Audience is the first play I wrote and produced at age 17 in the San Diego International Fringe Festival. I started writing the play my sophomore year of high school and it premiered at the end of the my junior year. My Mother's in the Audience is a dark comedy about an angsty teenage boy named Kevin Venter as he confronts a trio of overbearing stage moms on opening night of his high school's production of Macbeth. When an award for best stage mother in the region is announced, the moms launch into a murderous frenzy, stopping at nothing to win the prize. Stage fright, sword fights, and Satanism ensues. It made its world premiere at the 2015 San Diego International Fringe Festival where it won the 1st Annual Jonathan Dunn-Rankin Scholarship in recognition of my initiative to create new works and employ local professional artists.

Getting to Fringe

After completing an earlier draft of the play, I submitted My Mother's in the Audience to the San Diego Playwright's Project Plays by Young Writers competition in 2014, where the top prize was a full professional production of your script. I had submitted to the competition several times previously, and had already been a finalist two years in a row. I heard back that My Mother's in the Audience was also a finalist in the competition (top 21 out of 581 submissions), and the Playwright's Project wanted to conduct a phone interview in before making a final decision. During the interview, it became apparent that the play was too violent for the Playwrights Project's taste and I would have to make a lot of changes to the script in order for it to be considered. Ultimately, the play was not selected by the Playwright's Project for production, but I still had a story I wanted to see onstage. I continued to refine the script, deciding the best course of action would be to take it to the Fringe Festival where I could put on my show the way I wanted to.

Assembling a Team

As a high schooler, a production challenge for My Mother's in the Audience was that 5 out of the 7 characters are grown ups, and I didn't know enough adult actors to cast the show properly. I recruited my friend and mentor Jason Maddy, a professional San Diego actor and director, to direct My Mother's in the Audience and assemble a cast of adults. Meanwhile, I cast two of my friends as the teenage characters, and we were in business.

Wearing Many Hats

Entering rehearsal, my job as playwright was over. But my job as producer had just begun. At 17 years old I was responsible for organizing every aspect of the production, from raising nearly $2,000 to pay for the venue and cast, to designing and distributing promotional materials like posters and postcards, to scouting for and building the props, sets, and costume pieces. I couldn't have done it without help and support from parents, friends, and teachers who rallied behind this show and helped me make it happen.

Summoning Satan

Debra chokes Wanda under the shadow of the devil

One of the most ambitious scenes in My Mother's in the Audience included a dramatic battle as one of the mothers transformed into a satanic demon and battled another mother to the death. From the beginning, this was a daunting scene to stage. Ultimately, I utilized my toolbox as a puppeteer/puppet fabricator and built a shadow puppet to represent the demonic presence. While most shadow puppets are made of paper or card stock to create a crisp shadow, I wanted Satan to appear more blurred and organic, so I opted to use soft materials like foam and faux furs. I also mechanized the mouth so that its shadow would lighten and darken to match Satan's dialogue. The final effect was a striking 20 foot tall shadow projection that dominated the stage and impressed audiences.

Lessons Learned

Looking back on My Mother's in the Audience, I see it as the entry point into my career as a producer of my own content. Working on this show helped me develop as a leader, a writer, a spokesperson, and as an individual with an artistic identity. I didn't take no for an answer, but rather saw it as an opportunity to create my own art on my own terms.

Though I was the youngest theater producer in the 2015 San Diego International Fringe Festival, audiences took my show seriously. People really enjoyed the comedy and underlying commentary on helicopter parenting and the dangers of ego in competition. On a couple occasions, audience members I ran into on the street would usher me into a quiet corner and ask me if I really wrote it or if it was all a marketing ploy, which I found incredibly flattering. And then at the end of the Festival, I was awarded with the 1st Annual Jonathan Dunn-Rankin Scholarship, in recognition of my initiative to develop new theatrical works in San Diego. I had found a home at the San Diego International Fringe Festival, at at 17 years old, it was a lot like growing up in the circus.