Fill the Room

Almost 15 years ago, I acted in a play in my local theatre company. It was my first time with the troupe and in the community as a whole. When the play was over, the director said I had done a great job. At the cast party, he approached me and said, “I wish I had roles for people like you.” I knew what he meant right away, but he repeated himself just in case he didn’t make himself clear.

What He Meant

He was saying that he wished there were lead roles for fat people. A few weeks later, he said the same thing to me again. I told him that there were lead roles for every person. (Community theatre is often skewed white.) I told him that unless the lines explicitly stated a person’s ethnicity or gender then it’s fair game. Look at how many gender bent plays we’ve seen!

He didn’t have the good graces to be ashamed, or even cowed by my response, so while I got mad, I also got even. I wrote plays and produced them myself. Me: a fat person playing a romantic lead. Me: a fat person playing the warrior Boudicca. Me: at fat person winning awards for these stories and roles that one narrow-minded director thought I couldn’t play.

Screw That Guy!

Why am I telling you this story? Because I bet you’ve thought to yourself, I wish I could see myself in these stories that I read. I’m telling you, you can.

You can occupy that space – you can take up the entire room! Write that story that you wished you had read when you were younger. Write that story that you think no one wants to read, because guess what? People do.

For too long, too many writers have made themselves small because they think what they have to say is too much. Stand tall. Stand proud. Be seen.