Kicking Facebook by Margery Kreitman (2015 Salon Series Finalist)
Margery Kreitman is the author of “Please Wait For The Beep” (Cable Car Award nominee), produced in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City, “Picture Me” (Jane Chambers’ Playwriting Award), produced by Theater Rhino, “Digitally Yours” – a sketch comedy revue, created and performed with Karen Hirst, produced by Theater Rhino and The New Conservatory Theater. She also wrote the comedy, “Sax and the Single Dyke”, co-produced by Sarah Heartburn Productions and Theater Rhino. Margery’s solo works include “Home Plates” (‘Dean Goodman Choice Awards), “Thirty Years Later”, “Phenomenal Dread of Intimacy”, “Mug Shots” “Payday at Pukalani” (A Maui Fringe Festival winner), “Bouncing”, “A Singular Story”, “The Boot,” and “Soul Stone.” She has performed her pieces in at various Bay Area venues including The Marsh, The Exit, CounterPulse, StageWerx, Berkeley Marsh, The New Conservatory Theater, Noh Space, The Magic Theater, Theater Rhino, Venue 9, The Garage, The O’Hanlon Center, The Plush Room, The Tides Theater and The Thick House. Her short stories have appeared in various journals including Pisgah, Rockhurst Review, Gargoyle, Dos Passos Review, and Clackamas. Her work also appears in the book, Scenes and Monologues for Young Actors, published by Smith and Kraus. Margery has taught acting, improvisation and playwriting and was a faculty member at ACT’S Young Conservatory, The Academy of Art University, and many Bay Area public and private schools. She also taught acting for seniors at the San Bruno Senor Center and with them created a short screenplay about alcohol abuse and the elderly. It was made into a film starring members of the acting class and aired on cable TV. Margery was also the creator and director of Positive Spirit and Visible Proof, two writing and performance groups for HIV positive young adults. She is currently the curator of 3GT’s LezWrites! – Bay Area lesbian writers’ short, funny, personal narratives about LGBT life.
Some words from playwright Margery Kreitman:
WHY I WROTE THIS PIECE
I wanted to do this piece because so much of my life and the lives of people I know are now inextricably entwined with the Internet, and, in particular, social media.
Modern life has dramatically changed from even a decade ago, though it is debatable if it’s all for the good. That being said, I have personally been one of those people who has been having a love/hate relationship with the Internet and social media and has sought, besides education, news and entertainment, to find such intangible rewards as love, joy, solace, emotional and spiritual support, and connection.
One of the reasons I’ve written this piece as a way to understand and communicate from my own experience what it has been like to maneuver in this oh- so-crazy and wonderful digital world, and how easy and quickly it is to become not only dependent, but also truly addicted to electronic life.
ABOUT MY PIECE
Kicking Facebook, a new solo work ( in progress) by Margery Kreitman
After a traumatic breakup with my long time partner and lover, I turn to the Internet for distraction from all the questions that haunt me about my life and the demise of my relationship. Distraction rapidly becomes addiction as I search for dates and potential mates online, and find myself wrapped in an ever- growing web of internet loops, jargon, and videos. Distracted from the world, I live my life online and vicariously, posting photos of birds to my 789 Facebook friends as if I were a bird watcher in the wild.
Yearning for more connection, I grow intrigued with apps and services that abound. One for only $3.99 claims to help “the touch deprived” find physical warmth and nurturing right in her own back yard without the burden of emotional complications or commitment. Other apps such as “Stop Procrastinating” assure me that by disconnecting completely from the internet by downloading their app, I will finally be able to focus and concentrate on the work I am avoiding by obsessively trolling social media.
Okay Cupid, a dating app, promises I will meet the love of my life for only 6.99 a month. I am sent an email daily with the profiles and photos of women that are chosen just for me, based on my profile and predilections. I get “flirt messages” which is basically just an email from Okay Cupid saying ‘so and so’ just sent you a flirt message. Hm. Then Okay Cupid urges me to write her back. Well, she never really wrote to me in the first place. She just checked a box that said, “send a flirt now”. And in the second place, this woman lives in New Jersey, she’s 30 years old, she’s never dated a woman, and she is not in any way in the age group or distance I specified when I signed up. But thanks, anyway!
I try meeting someone from Match.com. It is a disaster. She is a suicidal pot farmer hooked on steroids for body building. I am catapulted back to the comforts of my home , my computer, and my Facebook.
Until one day…
MY WRITING PROCESS
My writing process is different for every piece I write but I would have to say humor and pathos are what I reach for and what usually seems to come through. For some monologues or plays, the words come quite quickly as the story unfurls itself inside my mind, and is usually based loosely on events from my life. It is often an experience or event that is either painful like a breakup or loss, or an unusual experience like being mugged, or my first time on a silent meditation retreat. For other stories I have written they are memories of childhood or events growing up with my family. I enjoy writing these stories as the memories are often quite vivid in my mind, and I love going back to explore the world of the child or young adult.
Some of my pieces are inspired by my love relationships. Having gone from relationships with men to women in my early adult life, I have a lot thoughts and feelings about being a lesbian that I want to communicate. Living in a society that has taken my lifetime to accept gay marriage, for example, has had a tremendous impact on my wanting to communicate about the lives of lesbians, and give voice to my community, which has long been in the shadows and largely unheard.
ONE LAST THING…
It has been immensely gratifying to have seen my plays and monologues on stage in theatres that have supported and encouraged my work. I’d like to extend a great big ‘thank you’ to 3Girls Theatre for being an important supporter in this regard! And also to all the audiences that have enjoyed my work.
Conversation between MARGERY KREITMAN and PATRICIA MILTON, May 2015