Dreaming.... was developed during several workshops and with the help of the following actors and collaborators: Six Figures Theater Company, Sheila Bandyopadhyay, Amanda Schulze, Al Pagano, Jenny Lee Mitchell, Aldo Perez, Man Newkirk, Edmund Bagnell, Todd Reichart, Gregory Couba. I owe a great debt to these artists, who helped to develop the piece in workshops and staged readings. What began as a show called DRESS, a stylized collection of vignettes inspired by a 1950s home economics book at HERE's American Living Room Festival, focusing on body image, personal monologue, The Feminine Mystique, identity, and public service announcements (artfully recorded by Greg Maupin) transformed into a full length play.

“Dreaming of the Atom Bomb… was developed in the wake of 9-11 and the growing state of paranoia and hysteria felt in America. I drew from a variety of sources: films of the 1940’s, ‘50s and early ‘60s, including the movie musical, film noir, and wonderful films like Funny Face, Peyton Place, Where the Boys Are, and, I Married a Communist, and Cold War Educational films to name a few. I took excerpts from DRESS, True Story Magazine 1956, Ladies Home Journal 1955, The Teen Guide to Homemaking 1961, and Betty Crocker’s Hostess Cookbook.

Focused on Susie, a young woman longing to find her own identity and voice, Dreaming... is a highly stylized social and political satire with music, movement, and dance. The play can be done with or without singing (I've written several original songs) but music of the 1940s and '50s is integral to the piece. In addition, film and voice-overs can be used through the piece or not, depending on budget, for PSA's on how to cover up figure flaws or what to wear while cleaning the home or for direct addresses from The Government Man or Senator McCarthy.