AFTERMATH

Every time I create a new project, I wonder what emotional impact it has on the audience that experiences it. True, I like to meet people who attend my performances right after the show, but once you exit the theatre, your emotions are different than when the dust settles down. What happens a week after or a month later? Do those feelings remain, or do they vanish? Or transform into something else deeper?

Once The Hope Theory closed at the Geffen, everyone who purchased a ticket received an email with a link to a page where people could share with me how the show impacted them. You can still access that page here. I received hundreds of messages, and some of these are nothing short of amazing. I am carefully reviewing each one, learning in the process by looking at my performance through different eyes.

A simple sentence struck me deeply in one of these accounts: “I saw myself in the story.” That’s such a succinct way of explaining one of the best feelings I believe someone can have when witnessing any form of storytelling; what happens on stage is not outside of us. This was even more interesting to read from someone who is an American-born citizen who has never left their hometown of Los Angeles. As much as I’d like to believe that my story is more universal than its immigration aspect, I wonder if it gets to people in the same way if they are not close to that life experience. At least, for one person, it did.

I will continue reading them, and, who knows, maybe a new project will come out of this new experience I am having. You never know where a new story begins, and from the accounts I have read so far, I can sense there are plenty of stories to unveil.