I was introduced to playwright Bruce Graham when we staged White Guy on the Bus in 2019. In his writing, Graham doesn’t shy away from exploring human motivations, good or bad. Following my first read of Coyote on a Fence, I have to admit, the thought of staging this play was a bit frightening. Damaging beliefs held as though they are normal is scary. However, I realized that people with damaging beliefs seem normal to others that share their same beliefs. This then leads to groups of people that hold these thoughts and beliefs as true, and that is even more frightening.

I became more and more curious about the source of this dangerous type of thinking and began exploring the effects of upbringing and environment. That led me to ponder love, or the lack thereof, as a pathway to acceptance and belonging.

Once I found myself asking so many questions and wanting answers that were too few in coming, I realized that not staging this play was more frightening than not. We must look at these people because it’s more dangerous to pretend that they don’t exist.

The Reason