We’re so excited to be producing our Second Annual Appalachian Playwriting Festival on September 21-22, 2024! We reached out to Cheek By Jowl playwright Emily McClain to find out more about her and her script!
What is your connection to the Appalachian Region?
I’ve lived in north Georgia since 1994, enjoying the Blue Ridge mountain trails and waterfalls frequently throughout my adult life. While I am not much of a camper, I’ve spent several vacations at Mount Mitchell with family that were avid campers and enjoyed the unique beauty of the Appalachians that are so different from the foothills of the range in Georgia.
What does being Appalachian mean to you?
This region of the country is known for many complex qualities: stubbornness and resourcefulness, individuality that borders on aloofness with outsiders balanced with deep loyalty to family and friends, an appreciation of natural beauty, and a celebration of the community that exists within it. I love that we are well-known as America’s storytellers and the important role that a good narrative plays in our daily life (both as Appalachian and Southerners) makes writing plays and telling stories a natural extension of that ingrained impulse.
What inspired you to write your play?
Cheek By Jowl was inspired by a ramshackle old house that I encountered while visiting a friend living in Ellijay, Georgia. The house and most of the property were almost completely overrun with mountain laurel and wisteria and my friend said she felt so sorry for the daughter of the man that lived there because she drove 45 minutes up the mountain several times a day to care for her aging father, who was apparently “something of a handful” and refused to leave the house. I was struck by how beautiful the blooming flowers were but also how they represented something a little more sinister: nature reclaiming something that was no longer tended to by the people that lived there. I connected with the unknown daughter and kept imagining what the strain of this daily trek must take on her and how that could impact her ability to have a full life of her own. I jotted a few notes down in a notebook and when I got home I wrote the first draft of the play.
What do you hope will stick with audiences after they watch the reading of your play?
I hope the parent-child and sibling dynamics that are the beating heart of the play resonate with people and they can recognize themselves in different characters at various points throughout the play. I hope they think it’s funny because in my mind it’s definitely a comedy about some heavier topics.
Tell us a bit about yourself!
I am a high school theatre teacher, playwright, and director. I’ve been writing plays professionally since 2017 and Cheek By Jowl was my second full-length play I ever wrote. I’m a two-time winner of the Essential Theatre New Play Award (Slaying Holofernes– 2019, The Rock and the Hard Place– 2024), the William Faulkner Literary Prize (What the Water Gave Me– 2022), and the Texas Nonprofit Theatre Award (Copper Angel– 2023). My work can be found on New Play Exchange. When I’m not writing or teaching, I love to cook, exercise, and watch terrible movies.
Will you be joining us for the Appalachian Playwriting Festival? If so, is there anything else you’re planning on checking out while you’re in Burnsville?
Yes I’m planning on attending and very excited about the prospect! Would appreciate any recommendations for places to stay in Burnsville while we’re there. My partner is an alum of Appalachian State University for his undergrad degree and I’ve never been to the campus so hopefully we’ll get a chance to visit while we’re an hour away and he can finally stop bragging about how much better the mountains are at App State than at Berry College, where I went to undergrad.
Our Appalachian Playwriting Festival Schedule this year is…
Saturday, September 21, 2024
1pm: Booth #99
4pm: Bloodletting in These Hills
7pm: Cheek By Jowl
Sunday, September 22, 2024:
1pm: Cheek By Jowl
4pm: Booth #99
7pm: Bloodletting in These Hills
Tickets are on sale now! Find out more and grab yours here: https://parkwayplayhouse.com/appalachian-playwriting-festival/
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