INTERVIEW: New play ‘Matriarch’ will soon premiere online
Photo: Jesse Bliss is the creator and director of Matriarch, which will be presented virtually Oct. 8-30. Photo courtesy of EPLi Photography / Provided by Emily Owens PR with permission.
The COVID-19 pandemic upended the world of theater, causing directors and producers to get creative on how to present dramas and musicals in a variety of formats. Take, for instance, Matriarch, a new play created and directed by Jesse Bliss, a celebrated theater maker based in Los Angeles. The show originally ran at the MKM Cultural Arts Center, and now it will have new life as a virtual offering, running online Oct. 8-30, with a special livestream for the Oct. 8 performance that also features a panel discussion.
Matriarch explores the role women play in a patriarchal society and how that dynamic can be transformed in the future, according to press notes. The show comes courtesy of the Roots and Wings Project, for which Bliss serves as co-executive producer with Gabriela López de Dennis, and the Houston Coalition Against Hate, a network of organizations that come together to reduce hate and promote belonging. The writers for the theater piece are Bliss, Diane Rodriguez, Sigrid Gilmer, Roger Q. Mason, Tamar Halpern, Taylor Lytle and Sheila Govindarajan.
“During a time when the patriarchy continues to oppress matriarchal roles across all color lines, this powerful work by female artists and their allies speaks to the critical need for women in our society to be honored and respected,” Bliss stated in an email interview. “Matriarch is intersectional, uniting artists and audiences from all around the world, inside and outside of prison, across all lines of race, class, background, sexual orientation and artistic discipline.”
Bliss said that the Houston Coalition conducts incredible humanitarian work, and she is thankful for their co-production of the show. In the playwright’s mind, theater is humanitarian work, and this collaboration between the coalition and Roots and Wings emphasizes “the healing capacity” that is intrinsic to the art form.
The inspiration for the theater piece came several years ago. The playwright shared that she was stunned by the inequity she and other women were experiencing in life — including abuse and the need to find a way out of dire circumstances — and she felt a calling to collaborate with other writers and start speaking the truth on what it means to be a woman or woman-identified human in a patriarchal society. In her mind, this project would lead to solidarity and give voice to the critical issues that mean so much to Bliss.
“Matriarch came to me as a bolt of lightning when I was breastfeeding alone in the dark when my daughter was a baby,” she stated. “I’d been going hard as an artist my entire pregnancy, directing my play Tree of Fire among other projects almost right until I gave birth. It was clear that kind of schedule wasn’t going to work anymore.”
She added: “I reached out to some powerful writers that I know to create specifically for the show. The process was deeply collaborative. We engaged in conversations about the hauntings of being a woman and all we’ve been through and still go through. We shared deeply with one another in the process of creating the work. It was such a beautiful space of connection and solidarity. I found it very healing.”
The first reading of Matriarch was at Traxx Bar in Union Station in Los Angeles. Bliss stated that people were laughing and crying on both sides of the stage, and the positive reaction proved to the playwright that there was something potent in the room — something that could have a continued life. “I have been incredibly pleased by the reaction to the play,” she wrote. “People are deeply moved by the work as it hits them as universal, classic and timeless.”
There was a recognition on the part of the audience members that there are toxic dynamics to patriarchy embedded in the fabric of society, and Matriarch is able to address these issues while simultaneously uplifting all involved.
“The artists that write and perform this show go deep into themselves, committed with every fiber of our beings to embodying the truth,” she stated. “It comes out in stellar performances and is deeply moving to experience in the audience. We take the heartache of humanity and make medicine out of it, transforming the artists and audiences alike.”
Ultimately, Bliss believes that theater has the power to transform society, and perhaps that’s one of the reasons that Roots and Wings and the coalition are bringing the show back for virtual audiences this October. When performers take the stage — whether in person or online — there is an opportunity for the audience members to see themselves reflected back.
“They are reminded that none of us are alone,” she wrote. “Theater not only mirrors society, but it also offers another way to exist, to be. This is profoundly healing and transformative.”
Bliss is a veteran theater artist who has been working in Los Angeles for almost two decades. Thanks to friendships and collaborations in the past, she was able to bring together an expansive team of writers and performers for this project. These friends have become a family to Bliss and her daughter, the playwright stated.
“Roger Q. Mason and I united in the legendary Leon Martell’s writing classes,” Bliss offered as one example. “We’d build for hours on the ride back from class then park under the magnolia trees in front of his home in Korea Town and continue talking for hours. That was the beginning of supporting each other’s work for many years to come. Sigrid Gilmer and I were brought together through a mutual colleague when we both worked at Center Theatre Group at The Mark Taper Forum. I love her work so very much. She’s also a very dear friend.”
Bliss has similar stories for Ramy El-Etreby (“I was instantly stunned by his work and person”) and Gabriela López de Dennis (Bliss was a performer in her play, Hoop Girls). Tamar Halpbern was neighbors with Bliss, and Taylor Lytle was a student in one of Bliss’ writing classes (“We’ve been connected like family ever since”). This definitely feels like a “family of friends” project for Bliss.
The return of Matriarch will bring the return of a conversation that Bliss has been wanting to have for quite some time. She points to the historic patriarchy of the United States as a means and inspiration to create her art — citing women’s struggle for citizenship, representation in the United States Constitution and equitable wages in the labor force.
“We have also been expected to perform all the household duties while holding down jobs that still pay 30 percent less,” she stated. “We’re still cheaper labor. This paradigm is the backbone of our workforce and home labor. Women make up 75 percent of the world’s domestic labor. There is so much fallacy about our progression. Our rights are being rolled back. Rape culture still prevails. There are far more women than men in leadership, and women in leadership often find it difficult to get the proper respect. Patriarchy is protected by our laws and so embedded that it will continue to persist until a whole lot of effort is made by all.”
Bliss is seeking out justice and allies, and Matriarch is one of the means she is looking to achieve that goal. She particularly wants to shine a light on domestic violence and its proliferation in the U.S. She wants people to stand up for others. She wants healing. “We need to collectively work to make this happen,” she said. “The toxicity of patriarchy will only cease when we fight collectively to make it stop.”
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons there’s a slogan for Matriarch: “She’s Wide Awake Shining Light.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Matriarch, from the Roots and Wings Project and Houston Coalition Against Hate, will be presented online Oct. 8-30, and Oct. 8 is a special livestream. Click here for more information and tickets.
