Voices of BTM XIX: Charlotte Meehan
Tell us a little bit about your play.
I am writing a series of This is Marriage plays: snapshots of married life in middle age where family, health, and mortality issues are addressed head-on, irreverently, and with great love. Every scene wants to elicit a simultaneous laugh-out-loud and cry-your-head-off experience of identification for anyone who’s ever been in a long-term relationship.
What made you want to tell this story?
My husband, whom I’ve been with for eleven years, has Parkinson’s disease. We are now seven years into his diagnosis and much has changed since then, particularly in the past couple of years. It’s become important for me to record the stages of love, not only that time creates, but that this disease has brought into our life. Telling this story reminds me that there’s still plenty to laugh about!
What’s next for you as a playwright?
I will keep writing my This is Marriage plays, but my next big project, Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends (or what to do when the world is falling apart), is a dance/theatre piece that Sleeping Weazel will premiere in a couple of years.
What are you most looking forward to on Boston Theater Marathon day?
I’m excited to see plays by friends, and to be in the theatre with everyone who has generously come together to support this charity event through the gift of art. What could be a more wonderful way to celebrate Mother’s Day?
Don’t miss This is Marriage, Part II—and 49 other amazing ten-minute plays—in Boston Theater Marathon XIX on May 14! Tickets