Hair Like the Sun - Table Read

The cast of 'Hair Like the Sun'

Maya Angelou tells the story of the first time she heard someone read A Tale of Two Cities aloud. She'd read the book before and found it adequate, at best. She didn't understand what it really meant until a mentor of hers took the book in hand and read it, using her voice to illuminate the meaning and delve beyond the ink of the page. it was only then that she truly understood what the book was about and what it truly meant.

This is a little how I felt when I sat down for the first official table read for my play. I thought I understood what these words truly meant. After all, I was the one writing them; I'd been writing and rewriting them for the past 3 years. A huge chunk of my life has been dedicated to these particular words. So you'd think that I, the author, knew what they meant.

As many writers come to understand, it is often the human voice that gives meaning to the words we write. Last night I saw a group of seven amazing actors bring these characters to life, giving voice to people I'd only heard talk in my head. For the first time, I felt like I truly understood who these characters are and what their story truly means.

A Story Worth Telling

I've haven't shared this before, but I'm writing a play called "Hair Like the Sun." It's set to premiere next year at the Texas Repertory Theater. This play is a labor of love, and I'm proud to be a part of it. The reason I haven't mentioned it before, though, is because talking about it makes it real. Suddenly I'm not just noodling around in my workshop, tinkering with a hypothetical script for a hypothetical play. Now I have to face the fact that this is happening.

This project is listed on a website. It has a date. It's been printed on flyers and mailed to people. This is a real thing that has a real date with real people who are investing real money. Already this is generating real buzz which means a real audience will fill a real theater to fill real seats. And for me, this is real scary.

When this project was just a fanciful idea, a "what if" scenario, there was very little consequence for failure. It was a small project known only to a handful of people. If it didn't work in those initial stages, we could have always told ourselves that it would have been wildly successful if not for events that weren't our fault. But then the unthinkable happened. We got a green light to actually produce this play. 

Never Outgrow Playing

If there's one thing that you should never, ever do, it's get too old to play. It's one of the great things about spending time with kids, you get a chance to play, use your imagination, and live in a world where the rules are whatever you want them to be. Is the floor now lava? Are we all now spies sneaking into enemy command? Does this bedsheet mean I'm a superhero?

The answer to all those questions is yes. That's what's so great about play, it lets you take a break from normal life, which is often boring, uneventful, and wears you down. Of course, as grown-ups, we still have to live that life because we like eating food that resides in refrigerators that run on the electricity we pay for. It's a complicated world, and play lets us take breaks.