BARBARA HUME, PLAYWRIGHT

Concepts for my plays are a product of my personal history and cultural experiences synthesized within a particular social issue.  I draw from dead relatives, haunting memories, current dreams and present and past conflicts that transcend time, place and people.  In other words, I choose to explore conflict that is timeless yet evolves and adapts when placed in a certain environment.  The more clearly defined the environment is, the more three dimensional the characters become.  For example, in my first full-length play, "Light Through the Cellar Door,"  the cellar shapes the inner and outer world of one of the main characters even though we never see the inside of the cellar.  The existence of the cellar and the character's use of the cellar shapes the character's inner world.   

 

Music and movement are big influences in my artistic endeavors. The language of song and movement/dance illuminate the inward life of the mind and heart of my characters.  I began telling stories on stage creating choreography to enhance the drama and immediacy of the storytelling.  Performing as a vocalist of art song, musical theater and ballads, I recognize the power of the human voice to expose the heart's most vulnerable emotions, creating connections with an audience's cathartic reservoir.  Consequently, an occasional song may become a moment of monologue that touches, most intimately, the emotional core.  

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