The Passages of Everett Manning
About
I had dreamt of a play of this sort as I was contemplating coming on staff at Sanctuary. Then, about two years after I came on staff, I met an English major who had written a couple short plays. She was volunteering and participating in our Friday afternoon Art Drop-In. I shared with her my dream about a play that represented and honored the street community. She liked the idea and so it began.
It wasn't until almost a year after that first conversation that anything started to really happen. But then it did. We started talking to people in our community. Gathering stories and anecdotes; ideas and characters. Soon, after several months of conversations we had enough material to go ahead. With the help of some friends and people of like minds, we found a theme and rough plot.
At this point I would like to thank Phyllis Novak, Rebecca Davey, Karen Robinson, Greg Paul and Sharon Tiessen for their invaluable insight and continual encouragement.
By the summer of 2007 we had a working draft which, many thanks to Kate Hodgert, received a read through with some very talented and insightful actors. Two revisions later and in January of this year we began rehearsals.
The process has been long and arduous but I am very proud of the people I am working with.
The success of this play depends not on the money we make or the attention we receive, but simply on whether or not we honored our community and told their stories well.