Thanks to...
Karen Cobb
Debra Dunlow
David Dunlow
Kathey Guttersen
The Music School of Roanoke Rapids
Michael McElroy
There is one thing that is true of everyone on the Earth, and that is that they have family. They may not know them, they may not like them, they may not choose to claim them, but we all have family. Even in a macrocosmic way, we are all family. That's what we had to access with this piece. We had to show the audience that they too are these characters on this stage living and dealing with the joys and hardships of family.
The audience has to play make-believe with us and see young kids playing in a toy room and see that these empty frames on the stage hold every single audience member's family portrait. The question was how do we allow the audience to not only see themselves in these characters' lives, but once seeing themselves, interrogate themselves.
This seems like a perverse idea, to interrogate one's own way of life, but that truly is what the theatre should do. It provides a window, or a mirror, into the audience's life. The viewer assimilates with the stage characters and thinks of themselves in place of these characters, specifically Jen.
"John & Jen" is about Jen and her family. It revolves around Jen and her relationship to the only John she knows (both brother and son being the same person played by the same actor.) This is why it's entitled "John & Jen" not entitled "John & Jen & John" the musical. This theatrical piece converses with someone's personal relationship to family, loss, acceptance, and letting go. We have all experienced these aspects of familial relationships, and often times with the same relative.
I hope "John & Jen" lets you see that no matter where you may peg your relationship with someone, no matter how awful you think your connection with a relative is, there is a love that is always there. This love is what can save it, even after you think the chance has passed. This love is what can improve it beyond hope.
Remember the old days. Hug them like you would if you were 5 years old again. Play baseball and laugh like a kid. Build a fort.
Play make-believe and then make your reality.
Daniel Dunlow
Director/Producer
Talked About Theatre Co
