INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT ELYZABETH GREGORY WILDER

Meghan Beals McCarthy (Northlight Literary Manager & Resident Dramaturg):  What drew you to Gee’s Bend?

Elizabeth Gregory Wilder:  I first read about the quilts when they debuted at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York.  It seemed to strange to me that this community of artists lived so close to where I grew up (in Mobile, Alabama) and I had never heard of them.  When I saw the quilts for the first time I knew that there was a bigger story to be told.

MBM: During the course of writing, I understand there was a whole other draft you threw away.  How did this play evolve?

EGW: Gee's Bend is the first play I've written that isn't solely born of my own imagination and I found that very intimidating.  As I talked with the women and read about the miraculous journey of this community, I knew that I had a duty to maintain the integrity of their story.  The first draft of the play gave me a way in which to discover the heart of the story, within the confines of the historical context. 

MBM: Why was it so important that this story have the time span that it does?

EGW: The dates I chose felt like the most pivotal moments in the history of this community.  When the Civil War came to an end, life in Gee's Bend didn't really change for the people there.  They were free, but they had no place else to go.  That moment in the 1930's when the farm administration gave the community an opportunity to own their own land was really the first major step toward enjoying the freedoms that had been granted 75 years earlier.  In the 1960's, Gee's Bend attracted many civil rights leaders because it was one of the few African-American communities in the South where the people owned their own land.  They could gather to plan their next mission without the threat of being kicked off their land.  Then as the new millennium arrived, Gee's Bend found itself once again at a turning point.  The quilts were garnering national attention, and the ferry which was cut off in the 60's was scheduled to return.  The timeline became a very natural skeleton on which to build the story.

MBM: How did your research develop?  What was your experience in meeting the women?

EGW: I spent two year reading about Gee's Bend before I finally had the courage to actually write the play.  The Alabama Shakespeare Festival offered me a commission and the encouragement I needed.  I made my first trip to Gee's Bend on Dec. 26th, 2004.  The first thing I noticed about the women is that no one shook my hand; instead I was engulfed in their embrace.  As I left, Mary Lee Bendolph said to me, "Just write it honest."  Powerful words.  Over the next year I made two more trips back to Gee's Bend.  The community has been incredibly generous and supportive of me.  I am so grateful.

MBM: How does music and God’s presence figure into the fabric of their lives?

EGW: Music is a vital part of life in Gee's Bend.  It is seen as another way to praise God.   The women sing while they quilt.  They sing while they work.  It can be both solitary and communal.  There is a richness and simplicity to their voices that you don't hear these days.   Growing up in church, I knew what it meant to pray.  When you hear the women sing, you understand what it means to rejoice!

MBM: Why do you think it was so difficult for them to accept the artistic merit of their work?  Have they embraced it yet?

EGW: The women never thought of their work as art because they didn't create it to be art.  They created these quilts to keep their families warm.  It wasn't until someone came in and told them that they were artists that they started to understand the value of what they had made.  I also think that the hesitation to consider their quilts art comes from the feeling that to do so would be prideful.  And pride is considered a sin.  However, the women now embrace their quilts as art and think of themselves as artists.  They made these quilts to be shared.  Now, rather than being shared with their families on a bed, they are being shared with the world from the walls of these museums. 

MBM: Do you have a favorite quilt?

EGW: My particular favorites are the quilts with the bold colors, which were made when many of the women were sewing for Sears in the 1960's and 70's.  They were allowed to bring home scraps, which then made their way into their quilts.  I also like the quilts that have a story or a past.  The storyteller in me likes to imagine the stories they could tell.

MBM: Have you tried your hand at quilting?

EGW: My paternal grandmother grew up in rural Alabama and quilted out of necessity.  She helped me make my first quilt when I was 10 years old, although, I don't quilt now.

MBM: After spending some time with your play, what do you hope people walk away with?

EGW: In the play, the women talk about "If you leave your door open for others, they'll leave theirs open for you."  This play was written because the women in this community left their door open and allowed me into their lives.  I think we all need to be reminded of that these days.  We live in a closed world.  There is a universality that draws people into this story.  I think people see in Sadie a piece of who they are and perhaps a piece of who they want to be.

MBM: What is next for you?

EGW: Currently, I'm finishing a new play commission for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival called The Furniture of Home, as well as a play for the Denver Center called The Bone Orchard.