THE JANEIAD
By Anna Ziegler
Hometown:
Brooklyn, NY
SYNOPSIS:
In The Odyssey, Penelope’s long wait is eventually rewarded when Odysseus returns to Ithaca 20 years after leaving to fight the Trojan War. Will the same be true for Jane in Brooklyn, 20 years after her husband left for work one fateful September morning? A play about longing and hope as well as the myths we tell ourselves in order to get through the day, The Janeiad is a wry contemplation of the power, and slipperiness, of storytelling.
How does your play speak to our current moment?
I think meditations on grief and longing are pretty timeless. But there’s also a way in which Jane’s long wait, the sense of her being a bit stuck in her life, mirrors the way we all felt during the pandemic.
Why is it important to see new work?
Because it’s exciting! To be among the first to see a play that might make its way into the canon. Or just to get a sense of what people are writing and thinking about right now, how they’re translating their experience of their lives and our culture into art.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t be a writer if there’s anything else you can conceive of doing.
What advice would you offer early career writers?
Say yes to opportunities that come your way, even if they’re daunting.
