Spotlight on Jennifer Roberts, Playwright of The Carrying

Jennifer Roberts - What is your role in this production? Playwright (The Carrying)

What does that involve? Writing, rewriting, some serious existential pondering regarding why I chose to write this story, some cringing self doubt and then some more rewriting.

What is your background in theatre? Primarily I’m a performer, writer and creator. I graduated from the U of C Theatre Program and have continued to train. I have taking workshops with One Yellow Rabbit and their Summer Lab Intensive, Clown Bootcamp with John Turner, Contact Improv Dance with Martin Keogh and Playwriting with Ken Cameron and Eugene Stickland. Most recently I was involved in the creation and performance of i-Robot (Swallow-a-Bicycle),   Letters from the WhimsyState (Citizens of the WhimsyState) with my script Parched, The Bon-bon dolls (Site Specific Spectacular, High Performance Rodeo), The House Project, Do Me (Downstage Performance Theatre Motel series), The Dangers of Being (Sage Theatre Ignite! Festival), Voy· er·ee (Buck Assembled Artists), Interrarium project (High Performance Rodeo 2006) and most notably in Featherland (One Yellow Rabbit 2005) at the Belfry Theatre. This is my first interaction with Walterdale and I’m delighted!

What is the biggest challenge with working on a New Work?  The biggest challenge with new work is the risk it takes and the need to trust the process while simultaneously removing my personal worth from the outcome.  The most exciting thing? All of the above- what a rush!

What was your inspiration/source material for the play you wrote? This script had a few inspirations. I was reading the National Geographic with the stories on the Inca and their relationship with their dead. I was struck by the images of these bound bodies and began to visualize two women carrying their dead with them. While I wrote I listened to Agnes Obel’s Philharmonic’s the melodic nature of the album managed to seep into the writing.

Has it changed much through the process? Yes, the story has tightened and come more forward. The character arcs were further developed.