Stephanie Christopher is Not Welcome Here
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Katie
SYNOPSIS
Stephanie Christopher is back in her hometown after her novel becomes a bestseller. More specifically, she has returned to stop the school board from banning her book. Outside the board meeting, she comes toe-to-toe with Morgan Turner, a high school senior in complete support of the ban. When their conversation takes an unexpected personal turn, Morgan and Stephanie are both forced to reckon with what they are truly fighting for.
PLAYWRIGHT’S BIO
Katie Priscott (she/her) is a New England-born, Midwest-based playwright. Credits include staged readings of Something Borrowed, Easier Said Than Done, and Stephanie Christopher is Not Welcome Here (Youth Artists Project), and Seasons (Mizzou New Play Series). This summer, she had the pleasure of being a member of the marketing team and the inaugural Arts Administration Cohort at the Virginia Theatre Festival. She is a rising senior at Oberlin College studying creative writing, arts administration & leadership.
A BIT ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
When did you start writing plays? If you had a moment where you realized you wanted to write, what was it?
I started writing plays in the fall of my junior year of high school. It was eight months into the pandemic, I was completely lost without the structure and creative outlet of performing, and my drama teacher passed along a flyer for a playwriting competition at our local regional theatre. After submitting those first pages, I lamented at the kitchen table that I wanted to know what happened to the characters. My lovely mom raised an eyebrow at me, in the way moms so often do, and said, “Then why don’t you write it?” Spoiler alert, I didn’t place in that contest, but I’ve been writing ever since.
How did you come to write your OOB play? Was there a particular inspiration behind its creation? How has it developed?
I started writing this piece as a freshman studying journalism at a massive SEC university, where I was frequently reading news stories about book bans in nearby school districts. The first draft was furiously typed out on an airplane between turbulence and sips of ginger ale. The first iteration was developed and directed in 2023 by a dear friend who has since passed away and who I think of daily. I’m so blessed to be able to share this piece in honor of her.
What are five words that describe who you are as a playwright?
Snarky, curious, intimate, heartfelt, speedy.
What/who are some of the major influences on your writing?
Quinta Brunson, Kelsey McKinney, Toni Morrison, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Stephen Sondheim, Aaron Sorkin, Taylor Swift. Conversations with people I love, especially my creative collaborator, Shea Frimmer.
What’s one fact someone would never guess about you?
I’ve been on ESPN! (I was in a musical that was performing the halftime show, but it still counts!)
What are some of your favorite plays?
John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower, The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, Into the Woods by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, Come From Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein.
Any new projects you’re working on or shameless plugs?
When I get back to Oberlin, I’ll keep toiling away on my creative writing senior capstone, which is about theatre (very on-brand, I’d say) and family legacy and fierce women haunting the narrative.
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