“Inspired By…” Honors Real-Life Change-Makers

On Saturday, October 5, the first “Inspired By…” play festival was performed at Seattle’s Cornish Raisbeck Auditorium. Produced by Mirror Stage, the event featured six different plays by six different playwrights, each one inspired by real, influential change-makers. Although each only ran for 10 minutes, they stood out as complete stories on their own, deeply reflecting many societal topics such as mental health, race, abortion, and more.

Despite this being the first ever Inspired By… festival, the audience was nothing short of exuberant. Upon entering, families milled about in the lobby and around the food tables, chatting happily with each other and the staff. Clearly, many were returning audience members, and they remained upbeat throughout the show.

Though small, Raisbeck Auditorium was a fitting location. Not only were the plays beautifully simplistic and easily utilized the space, but the cozy auditorium also offered the audience a sense of community throughout the show.

As the lights dimmed in the auditorium, silence swept over the audience. Everyone turned their eyes to the stage as white letters appeared on the overhead screen, naming the opening play as The Laundry Room – written by Serin Ngai and inspired by the Cynthia Brothers of Vanishing Seattle. 

The play begins with Alaina (Hannah Saito) and Brody (Troy Johnson) visiting The Laundry Room—a nightclub that has served as a center for art, music, and community—because they’re real estate agents who will soon tear it down and replace it with a condo. Tonight is The Laundry Room’s closing night, and vibrant music echoes from within. 

But Alaina is no stranger to The Laundry Room. She’s reminded of fun memories from frequenting the club as a college student when she runs into her friend C.C. (Kerry Jacinto), and the owner of The Laundry Room, Dex (Kevin Shannon). With conflicted feelings, Alaina is forced to decide what’s more important: the value of The Laundry Room, or the bonus she’d get for helping replace it with a condo only affordable for the rich.

As a mellow, thought-provoking play that discusses wealth disparity and community, The Laundry Room was an intriguing opener. When it began, it instantly made the audience feel like invisible spectators watching real events unfold. It was a captivating start to the festival.

Another standout play was The Moon Above Us (written by Stacy D. Flood and inspired by Kareen Toering of Black & Tan Hall). Centered around community and perseverance, it follows four characters who have banded together, hoping to renovate a space for a certain community to meet. However, they are challenged by the costs and their own doubts of success.

To me–and perhaps many other viewers as well–the most notable moment in this play was when all the characters stopped debating and gazed up to the ceiling. Suddenly amazed by how high it is, one of them says, “It feels tall enough to hold anything.”

For several moments, all they do is stare upwards, the stage lights glowing down on them like moonbeams. The narrator (Ruth Yeo Peterman), who both starts and ends the story, rejoins here to address the audience. She directly invited us to recognize all the possibilities that the future holds–and assured us that, “no matter what, these people will get through [their current struggles].” 

The Moon Above Us had a beautiful use of a narrator. Throughout the play, audience members remained quiet and entranced, hanging on the characters’ every word. The moments of silence in the theater rang loud.

Next was To Be Well, written by Anamaria Guerzon and inspired by Ashley McGirt of WA Therapy Fund Foundation. The story follows Thomas (Reginald A. Jackson), a father who is struggling with mental health. After his wife’s death, grief has caused him to withdraw into himself, and his daughter Addy (Roz Cornejo) struggles to reconnect with him. We watch as he tries to heal by going to therapy.

Heartwarming, funny, and emotional, the story depicts the far-reaching impacts that mental health can have on a person’s life, relationships, and family. It also touches on topics of toxic masculinity and race disparity in the workplace (the field of therapy in this case).

Its themes were similar to those of Riding the Struggle Bus, (written by Kellen Conway Blanchard and inspired by Paul Getzel from National Alliance on Mental Illness Seattle), which also stood out to me. After a bus breaks down, three strangers are trapped and waiting on-board. When one of them has an anxiety attack, the others support her, and through lighthearted conversations and earnest advice, they assert that no one should feel alone or embarrassed over mental health struggles. This play had the most humor out of the six.

The remaining two  plays – Tituba (written by Dr. Lisa A . Price and inspired by Maria Kolby-Wolfe of Washington Women's Foundation), which tells the story of a nursemaid who becomes distraught after watching a teen mother have to relinquish her child (which then causes her a strange nightmare and surprising plot twist); and There Are Ways (written by Aviona Creatrix Rodriguez Brown and inspired by Mercedes Sanchez of Cedar River Clinics), which follows a mother unsure if she can handle another child–also deftly communicated messages on race, mental health, abortion, and stigmas.

Despite their 10-minute length, the Inspired By… plays thoroughly explored relevant, current topics while connecting to their inspiration. Personal voice and creativity were radiant throughout.

My dad, who doesn’t know much English and wasn’t able to understand all the plots, still said that it was clear the actors were passionate and took their roles very seriously. It was our first time at a play festival, and we found it both incredibly fun and enlightening. 

Many other attendees must have felt the same—I heard audience members laugh along as they watched, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the twists in the stories. At the end, applause rang for a long time. 

Lead photo credit: Ruth Yeo-Peterman in Mirror Stage's Inspired By... 10 Minute Play Festival

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This article was written by a TeenTix Newsroom writer on special assignment through the TeenTix Press Corps.