What Makes “20 August” Special?
Not the date, the play I wrote. (It exists as a screenplay, too, but a definitive film version wouldn’t have the impact the play is designed for.)
20 August is a play about four twenty-somethings trying to figure out their lives. It’s told from Dixon’s point of view. He’s an aspiring novelist living off his parents’ money. His “girlfriend” Charlotte is a go-getter business type determined to climb the ladder. (I put girlfriend in quotes because Dix isn’t all that invested; it’s more like he let Charlotte make the decision for him.) Dixon’s best friend Lucky dropped out of college and still lives at home. He’s unemployed and mooches off his friends, though the only one who minds is Charlotte. And the fourth friend is sweet, mild Meghan. A librarian.
Now here’s the key thing about this play: different casting gives it different undertones. I don’t specify race in the play because I want people to acknowledge the societal bias around these personality types. For example, Lucky being a white guy is… fine. Maybe even endearing. But what if he’s played by a Black person? Does that change the perception of his character? What if Charlotte is Asian? Or Latina? Does she go from being an ambitious white woman to being a “tiger” or “hot blooded” and “demanding”?
The truth is, this play was inspired by a high school friend of mine who had a Pacific Islander/Asian background. And the thrust of the play is that our worth isn’t about our productivity or success. That pinning our identities and self-esteem to these things isn’t healthy.
A high school student used 20 August for a final project. Not to direct, but to do a full dramaturgical breakdown of it. I was so flattered, though I never did see the final result. (But she did win the school’s theatre award when she graduated, so…) The play itself has never [yet] been produced, but I still hope someone will take it on someday. Maybe with a rotating cast? It would be interesting to see.