blackbirdonline journalFall 2015  Vol. 14 No. 2
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JACQUELINE GOLDFINGER  |  Slip/Shot

Artistic Director’s Notes
Shana Bestock, Seattle Public Theater
from Slip/Shot program, 2014

Can one moment change your entire life?

Or is it only a push down a road of inexorable destiny?

Slip/Shot breathes vivid, necessary, lyrical, and forceful life into important questions for which there are no answers. Is our destiny determined by history, or by dreams? Is character shaped more by our elders, by circumstance, or by some unique, inexplicable fire within each individual belly?

Our present is shaped by the weight of the history we carry along with the buoyancy of our hopes for the future. Though the characters in Slip/Shot live across time and space, their history and hope resonate with our present moment. As I listen to the news, I’m grateful for the ferocity of these characters’ strength and the authenticity of Goldfinger’s poetic voice. Stories like these are the touchstones that help me frame a less fearful world for our kids. I’m honored by the brave and beautiful theater artists who give such specific shape and coherence tonight to our dreams for a more courageous world.

Kevin Meehan, Rachel Camp, Taysha Canales, and Cathy Simpson. Photo by Johanna Austin.
 Kevin Meehan, Rachel Camp, Taysha Canales, and Cathy Simpson. Photo by Johanna Austin.

Slip/Shot lays bare the seductive power of fear. When fear traps us in our houses, the house ceases to be a home and becomes a fortress. The courage it takes to move forward begins at our kitchen table. We all have kitchen tables. We all left them this evening to come here. Look around tonight. Courage begins each moment, with those present. In some small, huge, and hopeful way, we share our kitchen table here at the theater with you, the courageous, compassionate, and committed individuals of Seattle Public Theater.  end of text


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