On Exorcisms, demons., and Parents: a conversation with playwright Keelay Gipson by Jose Solís

Keelay Gipson (center) at the first read-through of demons. Photo by Whitney Browne.

Why was demons. the story that you wanted to tell right now?

This story is very personal to me because during the pandemic I lost my mother. The world had stopped and everyone was mourning and grieving the loss of normal. I wanted to write this play because I was mourning the loss of my life as I knew it and also mourning the loss of my mother.

As a writer, I am always trying to unearth things in myself and in society, things that I don't understand or that I want to understand better, and grief was a thing that was happening to me in many different facets and I wanted to understand it.

It’s very interesting because I started writing this play as a thought experiment because I always thought my dad would pass away first, so when my mom died I had to actually deal with those feelings, they weren’t theoretical anymore.

I’m so sorry about your mom. In the past you’ve talked about how the muse works for you during your creative process, how did she manifest this time around?

I love doing research whenever I’m writing in order to fill up my artistic gas tank, so to speak.

But with this, it was just personal tragedy that was informing the writing. That cultivation of the muse space is a part of my process, but with this one, it was just like, no, what are you feeling? Go sit down and write about it or shape it into something that’s dramatically sound.

The characters in the play go through the stages of grief. Which stage were you in when you wrote it?

I don't know, grief is nonlinear, so me sort of using the stages of grief as a way to move through the play is me trying to make my grief linear. That being said, I think denial was the thing that prompted me to go to the typewriter.

If the play was so personal, how did you know it was something you wanted to share with the world?

Well, that's the thing about being a writer. I think you'll understand this totally, but your most personal anecdotes, your most personal life experiences are what make your writing different than anyone else's. When I write something, I just assume that one day someone might see it.

In most religious traditions we have versions of heaven and hell. demons. seems to be taking place in purgatory. How did you create this liminal space where it happens?

When I came onto the project as the director I talked to the designers and I really wanted to lean on the tenets of Afro-surrealism because I identify as an Afro-surrealist playwright. I agree with you, I think these characters find themselves in limbo, somewhere in between the stages of grief.

Growing up your dad told you stories about exorcisms he’d witnessed. What are some recollections you have of those events?

I’m adopted and on my adoption records there is a verbatim account in my dad’s profile about how his most memorable spiritual experience dealt with demon possession. He thought that demons are out here and they will haunt you or latch onto you and hurt you or push you towards hurtful things. A part of growing up was just knowing that these otherworldly entities existed for my father.

Was it strange to realize the Christian traditions you were raised in seeped into your work in unconscious ways?

I think the Bible and the stories in it are so ingrained in me. It’s just like any other sort of grand work, right? I love the Greek tragedies, Ibsen, Tony Kushner and they all show up in my work. Being a Black American from the South, it's like Christianity is ingrained in me and I don't have to believe in it, but I can use the stories as jumping-off points, just like any other inspirational sort of text.

What are the demons in theater-making that you would like to exorcise?

Scarcity mentality. The belief that there is not enough to go around and that there can only be one “insert group here or insert person from specific group here.” Theater was built on the morals and ideas of community, but it’s become this business model that’s not community. Companies like The Bushwick Starr are community-oriented, but many others are pretending they are and aren’t.

What are you going to miss the most about your mom being there on opening night with you?

As a reformed Christian I don't know what I believe, but I do feel her with me from time to time. I don't know if it's like in a spiritual sense or if it's just me feeling nostalgia, but she's everywhere in this play. The set designer asked me about her favorite clothes and I told them about how much my mom loved Chico’s, so we had a fabric swatch from one of my mom’s garments custom printed and that is the fabric you see on the couch. We also hung a painting she sent me when I was in college and wanted artwork in my apartment.

It’ll be a bittersweet opening night because she would've looked fabulous. She would've loved the play, and everyone would've loved her. She probably would tell me there’s a lot of cursing, she’d be like “did you really need so many F-bombs?”

Keelay (center) with the cast of demons. on opening night. Photo by Robin Michals.