Inspired by Maria Popova’s beautiful book The Velocity of Being, we’ve scattered letters of encouragement from some of your peers across the country. We hope their words bolster you through your drafts, readings, productions, and reviews.
Dear Writer,
I became a playwright because I needed to share stories, retell history, honor ancestors, and feel hopeful about it all, even—and especially—when most despairing. I wanted to give poetry to the voices, people, events, and places that haunt me. After 35 years of playwriting, I still hear those voices. Only writing them down helps me remember them clearly and know which questions still need to be asked of the world. Only writing them truthfully makes me feel alive. The first play I wrote, when I was six years old, was a puppet show about civil rights. The next play I write will be about an author who is haunted by his characters on the eve of his death. How do characters stay alive after the people who created them die? How does one create characters that reflect our world honestly while maintaining one’s unique voice? As I get older, more questions emerge than answers. Young people have answers. Old people just know how much they do not know. It is satisfying and humbling to finally figure out how much one still needs to learn and be able to keep asking the right questions. That’s a reason to go on just as going on becomes more difficult.
I am sure that even as my fingers curl into themselves and crumble, I will die dreaming of my next play.
Sincerely,
Migdalia Cruz
