Although Matthew Kelly '06 has only been writing plays for three years, he is already being recognized as an accomplished playwright. Kelly's play "Homegrown Beginnings" was recently nominated as a finalist for the 2004 Christopher Brian Wolk Award for best new play from a pool of over 800 applicants.
Though he has dedicated much time and energy into theater arts during his time at Brown, he is not a theater arts concentrator. He is concentrating in biomedical ethics.
But Kelly sees a correlation between the two fields. "In bioethics you are discussing really tough issues. Many great plays do the same thing," he said.
His work with lighting design in high school led him to explore playwriting. "In performance design, you're forced to look at a piece and see how it was created," he said. This transition occurred about three years ago when Kelly began to write.
Kelly has already produced numerous works, both on campus and professionally, including "The Fifth Law of Quantum Mechanics, or Static Motion and the Women's Restroom," performed last year at Brown; "On the Natural Form," performed in North Carolina at the 2004 International Festival of New Plays; and "Pastrami Apparitions," performed at New York City's Makor/Steinhardt Center at the 2004 Festival of the Wrights.
Additionally, "Homegrown Beginnings" was given a developmental reading at New York's Abington Theater. His play "Harry #5" will be performed this year at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.
Kelly found very different experiences in working within the framework of Brown and outside theaters. Here, "it's just a matter of finding an interesting and interested director," he said, as there is "already a system in place." He considers the professional experience to be important as well, but notes there is more uncertainty involved.
"One of the scariest parts of the process is when you actually drop the play into the mailbox ... opening yourself to other people's opinions," he said.
But in taking that risk, Kelly says he has garnered very favorable reactions. His experience with "Homegrown Beginnings" has been very helpful, he said. The developmental reading, in which the theater employs professional actors and an audience critiques, allows the playwright to use one interpretation of the play to guide what direction it should follow. Kelly now has the option of submitting the play to any theater.
Jean Coleman '06, who has taken a number of playwriting classes with Kelly, was there to witness the developmental reading. "This is a really good accomplishment," she said, noting "the play raised a lot of interesting issues in a really artistic way."
Emily O'Dell GS, a former professor of Kelly's, said it is hard to classify his style. He is "intensely lyrical, profoundly absurd, very ambitious" and his characters are "complex with surprises and secrets."
"I do intend to continue writing plays," Kelly said. "I think there's a whole lot to be performed ... and a lot of issues that society is facing that need to be presented in more than one way."
Kelly is currently working on a set of 10-minute plays with Jennifer Silverman '06 and Dora Ruiz '06, which they hope to produce on campus this semester.
