Tell us about how Destroying David began:

I started writing it in 2021, as we were all still feeling the effects of the pandemic.  A bunch of my productions of Church & State had been cancelled, and as a playwright, I was facing a crisis -- why bother writing if no one would ever see my work? Around that time, I read an article about Michelangelo’s David*, and its precarious condition. It resonated with me because I had seen the David when I was 17 and it made a tremendous impact. So, I started thinking, what is the point of art? What if I wrote something about how art could help us process grief?  I initially wrote a 15-page monologue and shared it with Charlotte, and she was moved by it and encouraged me to expand it into a full-length play.

How has the play evolved?

It started as a one-person show, then became a two-person show where one actor portrayed the tour guide and the other portrayed Michelangelo, the nurse, and all the other characters, but then it evolved back into a solo show.  I also shifted the original narrative from the loss of a  spouse to the loss of a child, which I felt was more impactful.  To date, we’ve done about 8 readings of the play, including at The Actors Studio in New York, and two full productions. I saw several performances of each of those productions and I’ve been able to revise it based on audience reaction and my own reaction. I noticed there was too much stage “business” in one version, so I reigned that in going forward, and have experimented with finding just the right amount of audience interaction. It’s a process!

As we speak, you’re heading out to Theatre Aspen’s prestigious Solo Flights festival. Can you tell us about that?

Solo Flights is an annual week-long festival of one-person shows presented in the early stage of their development. Each year, only six plays are chosen, and I was honored to have Destroying David selected.  Each new work is performed twice, with talkbacks after each show. It will be another opportunity to get valuable audience feedback. I’m not performing in this presentation, so this will be the first time Charlotte and I are watching it together. I know it will be helpful as we continue to make final revisions and enhancements.

Speaking of Charlotte, can you talk a little about the experience of working with your spouse?

It’s honestly the best working relationship I’ve ever had. Developing a play is such a personal and intense experience that I can’t imagine doing it with someone other than a spouse. We don’t have to walk on eggshells around each other. There’s no ego or hurt feelings if we have different ideas or solutions to problems. She has more of a director’s perspective, while I’m more focused on the script. I think we have a good understanding of each other’s strengths and that ultimately the goal is to make the best play possible.

So why should people come see Destroying David?

Because it’s like nothing else they’ve ever seen – truly a unique theatrical experience. Audience members often tell me they didn’t know what to expect when they came to the theater and that the play made them laugh, cry and think, which is exactly what theater should do. It’s a play about why art is important and how grief can hit you but not take you down. I find that the audience finds solace in this collective experience.  They feel like they’re part of something bigger. The David is a metaphor for the tour guide’s broken heart. All of us can relate to that on some level.

Destroying David runs Oct. 9-18th at Union Arts Center and Oct. 23-25th at the Sieminski Theater. Get your tickets here.

*Read the NY Times article about the cracks in David’s ankles here: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/magazine/davids-ankles-how-imperfections-could-bring-down-the-worlds-most-perfect-statue.html

Jason Odell Williams and Charlotte Cohn