Meet The W*rk Lab's Cayenne Douglass

To begin, Sappho is our “muse.” Would you say you have a writing muse? If so, who? 

I love the idea of having a muse and I really want to say something sexy about mine - but alas, I don’t think I have one! Unless the definition of “a muse” can be malleable. When I sit down to write it's usually because I get excited by the story, or the world - there’s a question I’m called to ask, or a power structure I want to interrogate - and then - I just start. I don’t cull from one origin, it's more spontaneous than that. What inspired me to move beyond inspiration into craft (which, lets face it, is the harder part) are the people in the room, the director, the actors, the designers (if we’re lucky enough to have them) - the collaborative experience is what inspires me to keep going. If it's the right team there’s an energy that takes over, and unnamed space between people, a spirit. If that spirit could be called a muse that would be mine.

Your project Brewsters is a part of The Sappho Project’s inaugural W*rk Lab. Tell us about it and what inspired you to write this particular piece. 

It was around Halloween and I saw something online about the connection between ale wives and witches and it immediately perked my interest. I started doing some research and realized that while the connection is part fiction there is also some fact to support it - and more importantly - it had the bones for a greater story. This was also around the time of The Women's March and the demonizing of Hilary Clinton. In my opinion, we had the most qualified candidate to ever run for the highest office and there was a portion of the country that was fixated on the ‘but her emails’ argument - and then we got Trump. Unfortunately, I understood there was nothing new about strong powerful women being demonized - but I was interested in asking why, what’s the core feeling behind the motivating action, how does that affect the whole and how do we move past it?

How are you finding your voice as a writer within the musical theater landscape?

Right now I’m listening. I’m listening and learning from those who came before me. I’m awake to what’s being done now. At the moment I’m not looking to find my voice within the landscape I’m looking to define it first - I don’t think you can carve your place in the landscape until you know what tool you’re carving with. That said, broadly speaking I usually lead by following humanity through story.

What is giving you LIFE right now?!

My work, my ma, zoom calls with friends, walks to Sweetgreen, YouTube karaoke in my bedroom, doyogawithme.com, a skin care regime, knitting leg warmers that don’t fit, drawing, harassing my cat with hugs, kombucha, the hope and promise that comes with a new President and Vice President, the vaccine, and of course all the peeps at Sappho!

What are the themes and ideas you're most excited about exploring within your writing?

I like to say that I make theatre that is “Brut/e/ful”: equal parts brute and equal parts beauty - also my IG handle, check it below! That’s because it reflects the landscape of my internal understanding: I believe life is ugly and violent. I also believe life is beautiful and awe-inspiring. As a human, and as an artist, I’m always trying to find new ways to hold space for the whirlwind of contradictions that push us along this mysterious path called humanness. My work is grounded in the fragility of the human spirit and walks that existential quivering line between honoring the sanctity of our moment to moment experiences and understanding in the end nothing at all may matter.

Is there a song that encapsulates your artistic identity? 

I don’t know that I can think of “a song” but given what we are living through right now I’d have to say “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid. I’m also a sucker for a protagonist with red hair!

When you think about the reopening of Broadway, what does it look like in your wildest dreams?! 

The whole audience is holding hands, making out, touching each other's faces and watching Brewsters! Duh! Just joking - well not about Brewsters being on Broadway. I have dreams - okay? Let me have dreams! But Brewsters on Broadway is probably 10 years from now - which, let’s hope, is not the onset of the reopening. In all seriousness, I hope the conversations we’ve been having around social justice and equity carries over in a practical way. I hope to see more diverse audiences where BIPOC people feel comfortable. I would like to see traditional audience participation interrogated and perhaps have that participation look different.

This is not to say that I think anyone should be excluded. Lately, I’ve been in many rooms where people say, “we just need less old white people in the audience”. While I understand the sentiment, I think it's misguided. There are many older, white, theatre goers (and theatre makers) who have been, and want to be involved in this conversation and in the evolution. I think these dismissive statements have the potential to breed a different kind of elitism which is counter intuitive to radical growth. I think we can have challenging content and still be inclusive of all.  I don’t think the conversation needs to be “either or” but “yes and”.  

What was the musical that made you think: musicals are for me? 

Annie, of course. I wasn’t joking when I said I’m a sucker for a redheaded protagonist. My mom has long brown hair and I used to make her act out the first scene where Molly is crying and Annie is comforting her. If you see any childhood photo of me (I had corkscrew red curls) it's an epic tragedy that I never got to play her! That said, I did play Annie Oakly in Annie Get Your Gun when I was 11. Also… Rent. That musical played a huge part in the development of my brain. I know that entire soundtrack front to back by heart. That said, this is my first time writing a musical! I think of myself as a storyteller (and a clown). I’m a huge believer that ‘content dictates form’ and this story screamed musical. I knew instinctively that Brewsters was bigger than a play. I mean that logistically in terms of cast size but also in its epic nature. I think that musicals allow you to cover a lot of ground which I knew would be necessary to the telling of this story.

Where can we hear your w*rk?

My website and my Instagram!

CAYENNE DOUGLASS has had work developed and/or produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Perspectives Theatre Company, Take Ten Theatre Masters, ESPA Primary Stages, Dixon Place, The Tank, Clutch Productions, Fresh Ink Theatre, City Theatre Miami, FEAST: A Performance Series, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Edmunds Driftwood Players, and The Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. She has participated in The First Stage Residency through The Drama League, The Barn Arts Residency, and The Emerging Artists Residency at Tofte Lake. This spring, her full-length play, Maiden Voyage was the 2nd place recipient of The Lorraine Hansberry Award and was honored with Distinguished Achievement for both The Rosa Parks and Paula Vogel Playwriting Awards through The Kennedy Center. Cayenne has been published by Smith & Kraus in three monologue anthologies and her short play Variable Rates of Kindness will be published by Concord Theatricals in Theatre Masters’ Take Ten Anthology 2020. Most recently, she was selected to participate in The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and of course, The Sappho Project W*rk Lab! Cayenne has just finished her course work towards her MFA in Playwriting at Boston University. Her thesis production, currently titled BEASTS, has been postponed due to Covid-19 but will be fully produced at Boston Playwrights' Theatre in the 2021-22 season. For more information visit: www.cayennedouglass.com or follow Cayenne on IG: bruteful_theatre.