Everybody

“Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There’s only make.” -- Corita Kent

I firmly believe that obstacles fuel creativity and I am devoted to experimental work and learning from failure in the most responsible ways possible. As a theatre artist and educator, the concept of failure is central to my pedagogy (often to the chagrin of perfection-seeking students).

While circumstances surrounding COVID are much improved on campus thanks to the diligence and care of our entire campus community, this pandemic continues to devastate the live performing arts across the globe, arts which are genuinely vital.

I wanted to direct a play that could acknowledge the profound life-altering time in which we are living and that also offered hope and restorative moments without veering into devastating sadness or trite glee.

And Everybody is a beautiful and touching, humorous, and insightful play ... about death, but also, critically, therefore about how we live our
lives. We are Everybody and we are together in this human journey.

In his review of the University of Texas at Austin’s 2019 production of Everybody, writer Daniel Tejera remarked:
"It’s as if Jacobs-Jenkins’ script — which netted the playwright his second Pulitzer nomination — deliberately sets its actors up for failure. And this is what makes “Everybody” so completely engrossing and moving. Just as, in life, we are faced with the near impossible prospect of reaching perfection, and, most of the time, fall short; so, too, in this play, the actors are given real, near-impossible tasks to
complete in front of us, risking public ridicule, courageously putting their bodies on the line."
(Sightlines, October 31, 2019)

It is impossible to perform this play perfectly, as Jacobs-Jenkins’ lottery ensures. But permission to make mistakes also means permission to succeed. This cast and crew dive in headfirst to the unknown. They don’t fear failing at perfection. That kind of freedom is beautiful and thrilling and so very human.