The Play “Shut Up”

Perhaps one of the main obstacles in an artist’s life (and probably many people’s lives) is shame.

Shame begins early and very naturally.

If you enjoy the screaming of a child  behind you in the grocery store or the vocal experimentations your toddler practices in the backseat of the car or sharing with the entire department store your 7 year old’s new found love of singing, but most of us have, at one point or other turned to an innocent mind who was just expressing their deepest feeling, or greatest joy or finding their voice and said, “Shhhh!” or “Quiet!” or “Shut Up”.  And whether we said this softly, sweetly, impatiently, or at our wits end, vehemently, we nevertheless silenced a young and vulnerable mind.

It has to be done, if only for the sake of our sanity, but still, the message to shut up – if unchallenged, can thwart a person throughout their life.

Shut Up is a choreographed play celebrating the voice, the inappropriate response, the playful silly moment, the impractical urge to dance or paint and all the creative energy that may be lurking, repressed but begging to come out.

or amended it with a “please” or