“See Me!” were the final words I’d screamed doing my character’s monologue. It was important to me as a performer and a human being able to scream these words from a stage where people were more or less forced to listen to the words my soul has held in mantra for the past 10 years. Life in prison, for me, seems to be the repetition of a day of instinctual hope and non-acknowledgement. So, naturally, I jumped at the chance to break up the monotony and play a character who doesn’t stray far from my own story.
Until this play I was unaware that parts of me and my creativity had regressed into states of dormancy. Preparing my poetry and rehearsing in hindsight was like being reborn, except this time I was made aware of my own development. Playing the role of Benson alongside the other cast whose souls were vying for the same thing, to be acknowledged and have their existence proven has blessed me with a gift only an audience can give me… to be acknowledged.
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