All Over the Map

"I thought it was a period play," says Sunde. "I was in the Middle East under U.N. auspices because I was interested in writing about peacekeeping. When I began writing, things were going pretty well and I thought they were going to have a better situation than the specifics of when I set my play. But here we are, 10 or so years later. It is just so heavy to have this go on day after day after day with both sides committing atrocities, when you hope so many times that it would have gotten settled by now."

Sunde views her play as "almost like a fairy tale." It does not take sides in the ongoing political conflict; instead, it tries to imagine a resolution for these two troubled characters, at least. According to Sunde, "It puts you into the souls of a very young, very innocent soldier and girl who don't fully understand their circumstances. They are steeped in what they've grown up with. They have their desires, which may be just to get by in peace and make things better in the world, but the situation they live in is going to grip them and determine what they're able to do. It was compelling for me to try to imagine how you could get two people -- one from each side, both deeply involved in their country and their people's problems with the other -- to come to a resolution.

"For some reason, I've always gone for cross-cultural stories," Sunde remarks. "This one represents more than just that. It's about all people dealing with their 'other' -- the one they feel they can't deal with, their enemy."

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"A few years back, I was asked to perform in a play where there was a same-sex kiss involved," says the actor-playwright. "I was unable to perform in the show due to a prior commitment but went to see it when it was produced. Having read the play, I knew what to expect; but, to my surprise the two actors did not actually kiss. Afterwards, I spoke to the playwright and was told that one of the actors had refused to do the kiss. I know how challenging some rehearsal processes can be due to the collaboration of artistic people, and the thought of how personal politics might complicate that intrigued me."

Not only did Wilson write a play inspired by this incident, he's also appearing in its world premiere production. "It's been a valuable lesson to learn about the play from within it as opposed to being an outside observer," says Wilson. "Sometimes, writers can know logically what needs to happen for the play and not understand why the actors aren't making the connection. From inside the play, you can see for yourself where possible bridges and support need to be added in order to serve your intentions.

"I think what makes this play unique is that the conversation of heterosexism and homophobia is rarely explored within an African-American situation," continues Wilson. "The play deals with homosexuality and, in particular, men on the DL (down low), which is one form of expressing one's sexuality utilized by some men of color. It's style and behavior has a very masculine aura attached to it that challenges the perception of how gay and straight behavior is identified."

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Having lived and worked in Atlanta for a number of years, Blocker is best known to local audiences for Eula Mae's Beauty, Bait & Tackle, which he co-wrote and performed with collaborator Chuck Richards. "It just took off," says Blocker of that show. "We had this cult following." His new piece should appeal to Eula Mae fans: Southern Gothic Novel is set in the tiny town of Aberdeen, Mississippi, where young girls have been disappearing. When the hopelessly romantic Viola Haygood is kidnapped, it seems that everyone in town is a suspect. As he did in Eula Mae, Blocker plays a range of quirky characters -- both humans and animals. "I even become parts of the set sometimes," he notes.

"I love to sucker people in with stereotypes, because we're comfortable with them," Blocker says. "We love them despite the fact that we might stand up and scream that stereotyping is wrong, wrong, bad, bad, bad! Once I've got audiences suckered in, I try to give them the sucker punch of showing that a character is not who or what they thought."