BWW Blog: Playwright Alric Davis on Creating the Characters for His Original Play DIFFERENT, DAMAGED, DAMNED

In 1984, Louisiana native Leon Gary Plauche slipped a .38 snub-nosed revolver from his boot, aimed it squarely at Jeffrey Doucet, the man charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting his son, and shot to kill. The act, caught in full by a TV news camera, drew near universal support. The case grabbed playwright Alric Davis immediately.

Fascinated by the overwhelming public support for Plauche's actions, Davis began work on a story of his own. The result is his original play DIFFERENT, DAMAGED, DAMNED, which opens Thursday at the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival. Davis takes the audience away from the catharsis of the moment and into the weighty reality of the aftermath in the story of Ralph and his estranged son Cham.

Out of prison for a year now, Ralph has spent most of his freedom failing to mend his relationship with his son. But their current cross-country road trip might just make the difference. "Throughout the story, [Ralph and Cham] are trying to figure each other out, trying to coexist as men, and yet they lie, insult and push each other away. When they finally come to terms and listen to each other, they realize how alike they really are. They come to learn something about each other and themselves," says Davis.

DIFFERENT, DAMAGED, DAMNED appears at the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C. starting Thursday, July 7 at 7:15 pm; Sunday, July 10 at 2 p.m.; Saturday, July 16 at 2:15 pm; Tuesday, July 19 at 5:15 p.m.; and Saturday, July 23 at 2:15 p.m.

"One of the biggest things I hope people take from the piece is the importance of listening," says the playwright and, in the essay that follows, he hopes that you learn a little something about his characters and himself.

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INSIDE THE CREATIVE MIND of ALRIC DAVIS

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Good stories crack open your imagination to paint vivid pictures of memories, thoughts, emotions.

Do you remember when you heard your first story? Was it a fairy tale told at bedtime? Or a nursery rhyme?

Maybe it wasn't directly told to you, maybe it came in the form of some quiet thing called "Grown Folks Business" that you always heard about but never really heard.

Well, my family is chock full of storytellers. Since I can remember, stories played a huge part of my life. From my grandmother concocting her own fairy tales before closing bath time (usually paired with a jazzy rendition of "You Are My Sunshine"), to my always-loud uncle re-creating his umpteenth breaking point earlier that day, to my favorite church sister endowing the tambourine with the power of the ancestors, to my aunt spilling tea about a distant family member, I was surrounded by storytellers since my conception.

I grew up around so many colorful people in colorful environments who painted stories for me before I knew what they were. I was the unknowing canvas where these colors came home to blend, to paint my world. Something clicked for me at a young age that everyone deserved attention. Everyone needed to be heard, seen. Somehow I began to really take everyone in. I became a better listener in order to really hear what someone was saying, or wasn't. I learned so much from just watching and listening, seeing what people chose to show or hide.

My playwriting draws on the sounds I grew up listening to: my uncle's baritone voice, my brother's maniacal laughter, my cousin's drawl and how it ebbed and flowed. These very real people helped me create not-so-real stock characters to pull from. The stock characters dreamt up in my psyche had real voices, real opinions rooted in strength and conviction. From there, I put those stock characters in high stakes situations to make the story dynamic and memorable. Like anything else, it doesn't always work, but it's always worth a try.

For example, my mother is gifted with a beautiful singing voice but she has terrible stage fright. So my playwriting mind automatically goes to the extreme: What if she were challenged with performing a concert for First Lady Michelle Obama? Knowing my mother well, I have a good grasp on all of the possible outcomes involving what she'd say or what she would do. From there, I choose the most radical outcome and try to justify it. This is how I found my "process."

In writing, I tend to focus on what my characters say and how they say it. In most cases, I shut myself in a room, turn the lights off and just have conversations with myself. (I am well aware this sounds problematic, which is why I tend to do this at home.) Having the characters speak freely helps me find basis for dramatic structure. Conceptually, the characters begin to flesh themselves out after more and more conversations. Arguments are frequent, but you want those, this is where the juicy dramatic structure lives. Obviously, this can get a little hectic. Sometimes the characters wake me up and beg to be heard, and other times I can't hear a peep out of them. Sometimes people catch you in your "process" and wonder if you're schizophrenic. I always reassure them that I'm not schizophrenic, just a playwright.

What's intriguing about DIFFERENT, DAMAGED, DAMNED is that it's old-fashioned storytelling. Bare bones set. Minimal technical aspects. Just very talented actors and our story. But most importantly, it also has something to say. What I think could set it apart from other pieces at Fringe is that it doesn't try to be anything it's not. Just people telling an important story that we're passionate about and we hope touches audiences like it has touched us. One of the biggest things I hope people take from the piece is the importance of listening. Ralph has been out of prison for a year now and has been trying to connect with his son Cham. Like any other good parent, he wants Cham to trust him but Cham feels abandoned. Ralph then lets "Jesus take the wheel" as they embark on a road trip in the country. What's interesting is that both of them throughout the story are trying to figure each other out, trying to coexist as men, and yet they lie, insult and push each other away. When they finally come to terms and listen to each other, they realize how alike they really are. They come to learn something about each other and themselves.

I've always believed that art is one of the best ways to incite change and provide an insight to unfamiliar territory. With the terrible state the world is in, I think we need more pieces that are about acceptance and love and listening. If we all decide to do a better job at listening to each other instead of acting in judgement or fear, this world would be a better place. (Cheesy, I know, but true!) While I'm on the journey of developing DIFFERENT, DAMAGED, DAMNED, I do my best to tune in to what the characters say. Like those real people I described earlier, they want to be seen and heard. It's my job to tell their story as best I can. Until then, let's hope they let me get some sleep.

Writing by Alric Davis; Additional writing by Katricia Lang; Editing by Natalie de la Garza, Bryan-Keyth Wilson, and Katricia Lang.

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DIFFERENT, DAMAGED, DAMNED directed by Nate Shelton will be produced this summer at the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C. by the Orange Moon Players. Performances are Thursday, July 7 at 7:15 pm; Sunday, July 10 at 2 p.m.; Saturday, July 16 at 2:15 pm; Tuesday, July 19 at 5:15 p.m.; and Saturday, July 23 at 2:15 p.m. at MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street NW.

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