If Cherries Could Talk

This was a piece I had been wanting to write for a while, but never had the courage to do so. With a story that tackles the issue of emotional abuse, there are many challenges associated. For starters, there was the issue of writing an abusive male character who isn’t just one-dimensional. You could easily see a play about abuse, watching a male character be manipulative and flawed for the duration of the show… but what does that leave you with? I needed the audience to see the good in this character and to leave with the thought of, yes, he is an abuser, but at the same time… Is it possible to sympathize with him? I wanted them to be left asking the tough questions like “Why is he like this?”, or “What is his family like?”, and even, “Is he a good person deep down and just a teenager who is young and stupid?”. Pondering these questions after the fact is what makes a play worth watching. Art should always leave us questioning and deeply thinking about our lives as the flawed individuals that we all are, whether we like it or not.

Click HERE for production photos.

See my writer’s note below.

Monologue Feature

The climax monologue of the show was selected to be a part of the 2025 Smith and Kraus Best Women’s Stage Monologues, which will be released in December 2025. In this piece, Quinn reveals to her ex-boyfriend/abuser that she never wanted to have sex with him in high school; she felt coerced to do so. I’ve attached it below.