Writing with Sound in What We Deserve

Sound is a compelling and effective performance device for art concerned with social justice because of its ability to situate a performer, an audience, and a performance in cultural, historical, and political contexts. This article details the creative process of the author, which includes speaking the text aloud prior to writing it on the page in order to prioritize how the words sound together instead of how they visually appear on the page. Critically, this practice creates a focused consideration of the use of space on the page to invite practitioners and audience members to explore their own imaginations at moments in the performance without text as a guide. The hope is that prioritizing the embodiment of sound in the creation and writing process will facilitate practitioners’ and audience members’ ability to experience this new play, What We Deserve (an excerpt of which is included in this article), on stage and the page, not only as an interrogation of systems of oppression but also as an expression of a worldview that centres justice.