Playwriting
“People forget facts. But they remember stories.” –Joseph Campbell
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I have written three stage plays. Most of them in collaboration with other people.
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All have been based on narrative interviews conducted through my research. Interviews exploring personal stories.
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All have been produced for live audiences.
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Call this Number
Authors: Noreen Raja, Dr. Michelle Miller-Day, and Dr. L. Edward Day
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Criminologists L. Edward Day and Mary Margaret Weddington interviewed family members of murder victims about their experience with the criminal justice system from finding out about their loved one’s murders, through the investigations, arrests, trials, and sentencing of the murderers.
These transcripts were transformed into the play “Call this Number,” which tells the stories of real people whose lives were turned upside down by violence.
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This play has been produced by university theatres, community theatres, and two victim's advocacy organizations. A reading of this play is a wonderful fundraising event for victim's rights.
HOMEwork
Authors: Dr. Michelle Miller-Day
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Transcripts from interviews with 100 mothers about navigating the transition from welfare-to-work were transformed into the play “HOMEwork,” which tells the stories of real mothers and children living in public housing, with food insecurity and job insecurity. HOMEwork illustrates the challenges of making ends meet and parenting, the challenges of being a child when it is hard to get up and face the day, and the challenges of poverty within our communities.
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This play has been produced by several community theatres and by the Harrisburg City Council to raise awareness of how families can thrive under harsh conditions.
Two of Me
Authors: Dr. Michelle Miller-Day, Wanda Dittmann, Lorraine Spritzer
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This play tells the story of a pregnant young adult woman who is coming to terms with her own complicated relationship with her mother juxtaposed with her mother’s experiences of her relationship with her own mother. The voices of three generations of women are interwoven across a tableau of mother-daughter encounters. This play is based on interviews with more than 40 women about their grandmother-mother-daughter relationships.
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This play was produced five times over 1989-1994 (3-week runs) over Mother's Day in Phoenix, Az by the Assemblage Theatre Company.
