I was particularly interested in Timothy Douglas' essay and Winter Miller's response in HowlRound. For me that conversation is larger yet similar, I'd like to discuss the power of the Western white upper-middle class aesthetic paradigm and the problem (or the necessity?) of quantifying our identity - writers of all colors and ethnic backgrounds, immigrant and international writers as well - in order to fit in a little specific box in American theatres' programming.
Of course I'll be bringing my own Romanian experience into this, but my hope is to trigger a larger conversation about the global village, about "branding" someone's work and ways in which the stories we are told and we tell shape us and our careers as playwrights. I would ultimately like to touch on issues of power, decision-making, and Western cultural standards, as well as the seductive power of the English language (my own journey being one of struggling to fully conquer the English language and write my stories in English in order to reach a wider audience... and that's really not easy when you come to this country a decade ago, in your early 30s, and begin writing your plays in English... this might lead to the issue of agism in American theatre and the paradox that I am only a 10-year old American "girl" playwright but a middle-aged woman in the eyes of artistic directors :)
