I CREATED A WORK OF ART -- LEFTISTS KILLED IT. LET'S BRING IT BACK TO LIFE.
Here's the backstory, but read on for the GOOD NEWS you are helping to make happen!
I am a playwright formerly living in Portland, Oregon.
With a partner, I created and was self-producing THE MACBETHS, a reconsideration of Shakespeare's original, curated and re-composed to focus on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's ambitious, doomed love. The play is 100% Shakespeare, yet 100% new, a swift and powerful extended one-act, geared to captivate long-time fans of the bard, and to introduce him to newcomers as well.
I was also to play Lady Macbeth -- the role of a lifetime -- and my partner was to play Macbeth.
But because I have publicly spoken out, and continue to speak out, against the forced use of pronouns and for the protection and defense of girls and women in school, sports, crisis centers and all private spaces, Portland leftists mounted a boycott against THE MACBETHS. They threatened me on social media with physical, emotional and financial violence, and terrorized the theater space into cancelling the show two weeks from opening.
My partner abandoned me and required me to post a public declaration stating that I was asked to resign from the company we founded; that he supported "every aspect and facet" of trans activism; and that I should be the sole focus of any outrage caused by my opinions.
The show was cancelled; I lost all my investment in the project and my onstage role; my reputation was damaged; all the artists working on it lost 50% of their pay; the theater lost its rental revenue; and my partnership was destroyed.
Note, the leftists didn't care about the content of THE MACBETHS: They just wanted to banish me from making art due solely to my belief in freedom of speech and biological reality.
NOW I HAVE GREAT NEWS! This fall, I'm going to produce an AUDIO version of THE MACBETHS. This simplifies the fundraising, brings the end goal clearly in view, markets the show as broadly as possible and rises as an artistic act of resistance against speech censorship, particularly in the arts.
To be specific: In November, I'm going to hire 4 actors, including myself playing Lady Macbeth, and prepare to produce THE MACBETHS as a "radio play," or dramatic podcast (depending on your generation!).
This is a very, very sound-driven show, and that's already been produced. I'll figure out about music working with the engineer. I pulled the SAG-AFTRA contracts for it in early September, so this will be union work for the performers, something that's very important to me.
I'll create this production with actors and a team in LA, NY or Chicago, where I have great artists to work with, longtime union brothers, who will bring Mackers and all the rest to glorious life.
Then I'll build a simple website, load up the audio drama there along with the script and pitch deck, and make it available for production as a play to Shakespeare companies worldwide.
I will be directing and acting in the show, and am taking no pay for the directing work so I may pay the rest of the team everything they are worth.
This is the final stretch of raising funds for the production, with 100% of your contributions being donated to the project to pay THE MACBETHS designers, cast, web design, marketing, and other related costs. Again, I am providing own services to the show at no cost.
An audio version of THE MACBETHS also protects the company from the same kind of leftist violence they visted upon me, and that's critically important to me.
Your donations are going to bring THE MACBETHS back to life as powerfully as possible. Here is my new, simplified goal:
• $10,000 to allow me to recoup my losses, produce the audio version of THE MACBETHS, and market to Shakespeare companies and other theaters nationwide for their 26-27 season.
I hope you agree that no artist should be forced to state loyalty oaths in order to make their art. No artist should be frightened into silence for his or her beliefs. And that all artists should enjoy the freedom of speech guaranteed in our Constitution.
I hope you believe that diversity of thought as expressed in art is a cornerstone of a thriving culture. And that the protection and defense of art and artists is central to the health of America's soul.
Because this crowdfunding effort isn't just about mounting a play. It's about using art to amplify a rising national chorus speaking up, and out, in defense of us all.
THE MACBETHS: WITH YOUR HELP, SOMETHING POWERFUL THIS WAY COMES.
