I recently read “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt. Actually, I gobbled it up in record time. I loved it so much that I told everyone I knew about it. I needed someone to love it just as much as I did!
People are often compelled to share books, movies or TV shows they love because storytelling creates powerful emotional experiences – and humans are wired to seek connection through shared emotion.
As Durango PlayFest prepares for our eighth annual play development festival, shared connection and a sense of community are top of mind.
What we’ve found year after year is that watching the same play creates a rare kind of collective experience – audience members laughing, gasping and reflecting together in real time.
Research has shown that shared emotional connection creates a sense of belonging. I agree wholeheartedly. For a few hours, individual worries and differences recede as people focus collectively on the same story. Audience members often recognize parts of themselves in the characters onstage – their fears, hopes, grief, relationships or dreams – and there is comfort in realizing others in the room are responding to those same human truths.
In 2023, we featured a play called “I Came Back for Molly,” written by actor and playwright Molly Carden. The play explored her internal world as she attempted suicide twice. Two audience members shared they’d lost a child to suicide and that Molly’s play gave them insight into what their children might have been feeling.
Live theater is especially powerful because every audience subtly shapes the performance itself. Actors respond to audience energy, timing shifts with laughter or silence, and each performance becomes a collaboration between artists and audience members. For playwrights workshopping a new play, this real-time connection affords the opportunity to go back and shape their work based on feedback.
We hope to connect with you June 25 to 28. You can find more information at durangoplayfest.org.
There’s an incredible pool of talent right here in Southwest Colorado. PlayFest is excited to have several local actors and narrators join this year’s ensemble. Here’s where you can see them.
- “Hazel and Bea in the In-Between”: Tara Demmy, actor and Cindy Laudadio-Hill, narrator.
- “The Henry Clyde Canning Murder House": Jason Lythgoe, actor; Ivy King, actor, and Karisa Bruin, narrator.
- “A Deal Picked Just for You”: Luca Wiggins, actor, and Ben Mattson, narrator.
Mandy Mikulencak is managing director of Durango PlayFest and an author of historical fiction. She’s worked in the nonprofit sector for 35 years.
