When I get to meet with casts who perform May I Have Your Attention, Please? they often have questions about the inspiration for writing it, the writing process and the most frequently asked question, “How does the videotape get to Charlie.” My inspiration for the play was my own students. It was a new drama program with zero budget to purchase scripts, pay royalties etc so I just custom wrote a play to fit the students I had in class. Having a special needs student who I wanted to make sure was included, gave me the character of Charlie. As to how the videotape arrives if Chris is dead, I always just say that it’s my hope he is alive and it all is a practical joke but many options exist and I have felt it best to let the audience draw their own conclusion.
A few fun facts about the play that you would not know until now…..Christopher’s birthday is April 1st. I used that because it is also my mom’s birthday. Brent’s is November 10th which happens to be my birthday 🙂 Nearly all cast members can recite their “abc’s” forwards and backwards after being a part of this play. The back story for this is that when my mom was young, her Dad told her he wanted her to learn her abc’s from a chalkboard he had left by the time he came home from work. She didn’t know which way was the beginning so she learned them both ways. She was very young but also very smart and now that trait is one passed on to the character of Chris. You never know what story from your own life will be an inspiration for a character to another writer. So now you have…. the rest of the story 🙂 #Theatre4Change