The Wooden Heart

Synopsis

"Mitch wants to be a carpenter. Heather wants to be a woodcarver. The wolf wants to be an intellectual. Ruby wants to escape the wolf. The woodcutter wants to escape the narrator. A fable-inspired play about love and wood and finding your purpose."

Director's Note

I have always loved Little Red Riding Hood. There is something incredibly exciting about taking a story that is familiar to so many of us and finding a new way to tell it. When I first encountered this play, I loved the way it mixed a well-known, beloved fairytale with modern, adult struggles that we all know too well. This story, while incredibly funny and absurd, is about something I think many of us spend a lot of our time trying to figure out: what are we meant to do with our lives?

I don't spend enough time connecting with my passions. I think that is something I have become increasingly aware of, and it's one of the reasons this story resonated with me so much. It's easy to get caught up in everything we think we have to do and forget to make time for the things that make us excited, fulfilled, and feel like ourselves.

What I love about this show is its ability to portray so many different versions of the same goal: to find one's passion. Each of our stories is unique, and yet, this is a thing we all have in common. We may feel like Mitch, close to what we love but wondering if we need a change. We may be like Ruby, so duty-bound to one craft that we disregard any others. We may be like the Wolf, putting our passion to the side because we think we are not the kind of person who gets to pursue it. I think many of us have felt like one of these characters at some point. We may be afraid to change direction, afraid that we aren't good enough, or convinced that the things we love have no place in the lives we have built for ourselves. 

Of course, this show is also hilarious, and I hope you have as much fun watching it as we have had putting it together. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped bring this show to life, especially Dr. Amanda Dawson, who allowed me this opportunity, and Daniel Francis, who has been by my side every step of the way. I am so excited to share this strange, funny, heartfelt take on a story that I have loved for so long, and I hope that this show reminds you to connect with what you love, whatever that might be.

Katie Ludlow
Director