Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

I go through phases of watching a ton of dance/performance, and I am bizarrely well-informed on the subject. ”

I actually don't read the press. All the writers I admire were significantly reclusive, and I'm still trying to figure out how they got to a place where they didn't have to talk to press. ”

One of the most incredible and important things about the theater is that we're creating a safe space for all feelings, but especially, ugly feelings. ”

I tried writing a novel, but plays were the thing that kept feeding me, asking me to come back, sit down and be with them. ”

I was 23 when I wrote 'Neighbors,' and I definitely look back at it now and cringe a little bit. I was trying to understand what drama was. ”

All my plays have these titles that are oddly tricky. I like that something can look like one thing but mean two different things. Language is really unstable in that way. ”

The stuff I write about doesn't, like, necessarily leave people feeling warm and fuzzy. I'm writing in a territory that's, like, contested and full of prickliness. And I find that people project their problems onto me or something. ”

I don't hate people who colour-blind cast, but I hate people who colour-blind cast and pretend that they're not, who pretend that these bodies on stage don't actually carry specific meaning. ”

I identify as queer. I just don't know what any of these labels mean. ”

I spent summers with my mother's parents in Arkansas, where religion felt very present. My grandmother was Baptist, and my grandfather was Methodist. Double Southern whammy. ”