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DAVID &

Jonathan

To my hometown: for the ways it made me who I am.

To myself: For building a version of me I liked in spite of it all.

 

“And what is an example of love that did not depend on anything?

Such was the love of David and Jonathan.”

 

David & Jonathan is a play-script, where you uncover scenes between a golden boy (Jonathan) and a short king (David) by finding pieces within a larger image. Think Where’s Waldo, but you click Waldo and get to read a scene about two guys growing up and falling in love. 

 

I wrote David & Jonathan as a way to dig into my fraught relationship with Christianity. I’m not religious now, but I was raised a preacher’s kid. I can still cite scripture, and harmonize a hymn with the best (and worst) of them. It’s an odd skillset to have when you don’t believe in a religion and when that culture deeply harmed you. Taking these two Biblical characters that resonated with me and writing them a love story is a kind of healing (and a kind of fuck you).

 

Characters

David - trans guy, fiercely sure of himself

Jonathan - cis guy, fiercely loyal

 

Setting

Small town Texas

2000ish - 2015ish

 

Inspiration & Thanks

  • Hell Is A World Without You, Jason Kirk - truly incredible, has affirming depictions of religious-themed intrusive thoughts, still somehow very funny

  • Vacation Bible School - HIAWWY led me to Jason's podcast with Emily Kirk. I listened to the Jonathan episode while writing this piece, which had an impact.

  • The opening of Salaar Part 1 where that one kid electrocuted himself to take down a guy four times his size and win back his best friend’s nose ring

  • Each of the drawings and paintings depicted in this piece - I chose them carefully and they influenced me while I edited my writing. You can find them at the NGA or the MET open access collections.

  • Thanks to Welcome to My Homepage for giving me the opportunity to work on this idea in a residency and Rachel Stuckey and Greg Lobanov for their support. 

  • Thanks to Orchard Project's Liveness Lab and CultureHub’s Writing for Electronic Formats, especially my fellow participants. These programs inspired my deep dive into digital and distanced theatre.

  • Thanks to my partner, Pete, for always being down for a walk as I untangle an idea, and for using their professional editing skills to make my work even better.

  • Thanks to Joe Bakhmoutski, Matt Volk, and Pete for their feedback while playtesting.

  • And thanks to Terry for introducing me to Sporcle's Find the Image Pieces quizzes and for always sending me the best ones.

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