Robbi D'Allessandro - Artistic Statement
It is not an accident that I write about identity – how we attain it, how we lose it, what happens when it shifts, sometimes against our will, and only in the minds of others. In my youth, and much into my adulthood, I was the person who was, literally, everyone. I was a chameleon, not as a way to fake or feign identity but simply as a way
to explore it - sincere in adapting colors that were not my own, sometimes for survival, sometimes for adventure,
and sometimes, like many, to escape the discomfort of trying myself on for size.
I’m not alone in this as the notion of the alter-ego, whether it be our own or someone else’s, is a culturally accepted concept. We unabashedly relish in living vicariously while watching others find their truth. This is the place where profound triumph and unbridled conflict culminates. Truth in the self lives in the private moments between thought
and spoken word, between word and senseless, and sometimes desperate action. This is the birthplace of
unexpected twists, and shocking final acts that never fail to amaze.
Whether it be Broken Prayer, winner of the Kennedy Center Paula Vogel National Playwright’s Award, where a
Tibetan monk struggles to free himself from the psychological and spiritual clutches of his brutal torture, or the
every-women represented in The Voices Of We who have little, if any, voice in the patriarchal world in which we
live, I write characters who seek their best self in the face of heinous oppression.
My purpose in writing is to organically transport those who firmly stand on one side of a political, psychological,
or socioeconomic fence, to the sobering and often more enlightened side of the other. I do this by mainlining deep characters in intriguing situations that cause audiences to question their place and purpose in the world.
to explore it - sincere in adapting colors that were not my own, sometimes for survival, sometimes for adventure,
and sometimes, like many, to escape the discomfort of trying myself on for size.
I’m not alone in this as the notion of the alter-ego, whether it be our own or someone else’s, is a culturally accepted concept. We unabashedly relish in living vicariously while watching others find their truth. This is the place where profound triumph and unbridled conflict culminates. Truth in the self lives in the private moments between thought
and spoken word, between word and senseless, and sometimes desperate action. This is the birthplace of
unexpected twists, and shocking final acts that never fail to amaze.
Whether it be Broken Prayer, winner of the Kennedy Center Paula Vogel National Playwright’s Award, where a
Tibetan monk struggles to free himself from the psychological and spiritual clutches of his brutal torture, or the
every-women represented in The Voices Of We who have little, if any, voice in the patriarchal world in which we
live, I write characters who seek their best self in the face of heinous oppression.
My purpose in writing is to organically transport those who firmly stand on one side of a political, psychological,
or socioeconomic fence, to the sobering and often more enlightened side of the other. I do this by mainlining deep characters in intriguing situations that cause audiences to question their place and purpose in the world.