2021 Mayor's Arts Award Nominee: Jennifer Blackmer

Why are the arts important in Muncie? What do the arts do for the community?

The arts reflect our unique character as a community, and they challenge us to be better. The arts tell our stories as celebrations of our past, present and future. I love the idea that we are all stories; in that sense, the arts ARE the community, because all of us together form the rich tapestry of experience that weaves through and defines the fabric that we call community.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Jennifer Blackmer’s plays have been produced off-Broadway and across the country, and include Human Terrain, Unraveled, Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace (Joseph Jefferson award for Best Adaptation), Delicate Particle Logic, Borrowed Babies (David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award) and Predictor, which was featured at the 2019 National New Play Network Showcase of New Plays, and recently named a finalist for the Jane Chambers Award for Feminist Playwriting. Jennifer was the recipient of the 2015 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award for Emerging American Playwright, and her screenplay adaptation of her play Human Terrain won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Tribeca Film Institute award. Jennifer is a two-time O’Neill finalist, her writing has been short-listed for the Princess Grace Award and the Shakespeare’s Sister Fellowship, and has been developed by Seven Devils, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Nashville Repertory Theatre, The Playwrights’ Center, The Lark and Activate Midwest. Visit Jennifer online at www.jenniferblackmer.com.

I call myself a:

I call myself a playwright, which means I'm a crafter of plays. I build plays around stories of unruly female protagonists, offering them the same depth of character we've seen in male protagonists through the ages.

What is your creative practice and how did you get started?

I write every day, and it doesn't really matter what it is-- I generally have several projects in different stages of development going on at any one time. Sometimes my writing practice is more personal if I'm struggling with something-- I'll use my writing time as a way to get at the heart of what's bothering me, or ask questions about what I'm interested in. Mostly, though, I have specific goals for a project, and I use my daily practice to make progress toward those goals.
I started writing as soon as I was old enough to hold a pencil, and I've been making up stories ever since. Once I was introduced to the theatre, my stories took the form of plays. My sister and I used to perform those weird little plays in the loft of my dad's barn for the neighborhood kids, who were enticed not by the quality of our performances, but by the promise of my mom's cookies.

*Alias Grace,* Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

What do you wish others knew about your practice? What is a fun fact about what you do?

Theatre is all about collaboration. While this isn't necessarily a surprise, there's a myth that the playwright spends all their time alone writing probing and brilliant insights about the human condition, but that couldn't be further from the truth-- playwrights tell stories on the page, but it takes the brilliance of actors and directors to put real life into them. I spend my time in awe of what great actors and directors can do.

A fun fact about what I do is that I get to learn so much about so many things that have nothing to do with theatre. I love to write plays about science and scientists-- I was almost a physicist myself-- and it's a way for me to fantasize about other careers I could have had, and other possibilities. For me, writing plays is about making the impossible possible for a couple of hours on a stage, in much the same way we play pretend as kids. I literally get to play for a living.

Where can people see your work or learn more about you?

Check out my website at www.jenniferblackmer.com! Before the pandemic hit, my latest play, PREDICTOR, was on its way to a Rolling World Premiere at theatres across the country... now that the theatre world is tentatively opening, I hope those productions are still able to happen. Everything is touch-and-go right now in our business, sadly. The Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis is on the list to produce PREDICTOR once everything is back to full operation. Let's keep our fingers crossed

What is your favorite part about being an artist or creative in Muncie?

I love the heart and soul of this community, and how much the people here love the place they call home. I've lived here long enough (20 years) that it's my home now, too. Generally speaking, I get to have the best of both worlds here-- I get to have a house and a family and a job at Ball State that I love, and I also get to work with people across the country in awesome places telling fun stories. And my experiences here in Muncie feed into my work, especially with my students, as we dig down deeply into the stories that make this place what it is.