To challenge myself and generate creativity, I keep a running list of questions to ask myself and my collaborators when going into any process: 

1. Art is activism. How can a performance provide political and social action that is tangible in the community? Are systems of oppression being perpetuated? Is the process and/or the piece anti-racist? How can it be active in these things while still caring for the most vulnerable person in the room? 

2. Am I holding people accountable? The separation between art and artist is not something I am not interested in, especially when it comes to treating people with respect. 

3. An audience’s attention and time are so valuable. What makes this worth their time? It doesn’t have to change their life but it should at least make them laugh. 

4. Is this accessible? What needs can be met in the room and in the performance? This includes captioning, ADA seating, streaming, PWYC rates, etc. How can I expand my idea of what accessibility means within what I can control? 

5. What new audience can I reach? Who might not be seeing theatre that should? Why is this piece interesting to new audiences? Am I serving the community? Who is that community? I do not need to cater to the standard audience, their plates are full. 

6. How can I waste less? Is there a way to have a smaller carbon footprint with this production? What resources can be reallocated? 

7. Where can technology play a new role? Projections, VR, streaming, Ai, social media, video, audio, etc. How can it further the story we are telling? How can it be in conversation with the lives of audiences today? 

8. How am I using time? Time is not flexible, so you have to work with it. Pay people fairly for their time. Don’t ask an audience for more of their time than you need. Be fair to yourself in your use of your own time. It’s better to give people back time than to ask for more of it. 

9. What inspiration can I draw from things that excite me? I love to draw from music, books, television, philosophies, theorists, friends, family, current events, podcasts, etc. Trying to be original is a battle you’ll never win. 

10. How can I try something new? Are new players involved? What new diversity is being brought to this collaboration? How can I turn a play into a cross-experiential event? Is it a concert? A gathering? A protest? A picnic? 

11. Am I being transparent? There is a need to understand how art making can exist in late stage capitalist America. It may seem impossible, but at least we can lean on each other to make it easier. Be brutally honest in a way that is radically caring.

12. Can I laugh at this? Is it fun? Is it playful? If it's boring and too serious, it’s not true to humanity. Try again. 

This list is for inspiration, not completion. Furthermore, it will continue to change and grow as I develop my artistry and learn more from those around me. My work and creativity will be able to grow because my manifesto exists in the form of questions rather than answers. Every good piece of theatre is challenging and playful, and that’s what I believe my manifesto to be for myself.