Peaches by Elio Zarrillo
Elio Zarrillo was chosen as one of five playwrights for Zee Zee Theatre’s National Queer and Trans Playwriting Unit, and they specifically requested to work with me as a dramaturg on their new play, Peaches. This involved biweekly meetings, providing research and resource materials, writing exercises, notes in response to drafts and guidance with structure, character development, scene construction and dialogue. Our work together culminated in a weeklong workshop with Theatre Outré in Lethbridge, AB.
“Erik feels stories. I have never, in my life, met a more voracious devourer of stories than Erik. Their grasp on storytelling through theatre, literature, poetry, film, music and visual art is only secondary, however, to the way in which they hold space for the artist they’re working with. Erik is a dramaturg and collaborator dedicated to seeing their playwright tell the story the playwright wants to tell. Erik is a co-conspirator, a master question-asker and a fierce friend. Without ego, they are effortlessly dexterous in their pivoting between the work’s big picture and granular details and never afraid to push their playwright to go further and deeper. Oh, and they will stay up writing with you until 4am and then make you breakfast the next g*****n morning.” -Elio Zarrillo