Rebecca Gordon 

When we were told that we could do anything we wanted for our Capstone Project. I immediately knew. As a little girl, I would spend hours in my room crafting stories that would find their way stuffed into the recesses of my drawers or somewhere incomplete. I would wake up with a fantastic line for the middle of a paragraph, but no beginning. I thought that writing was what I wanted to do, but I could never finish a work of fiction. When I found acting, I knew I had found my “thing.” I figured that whatever part of me needed writing was really just searching for acting.

A few years later in college, I found myself once again yearning for the pencil. I found my love in creative non-fiction and took up the writing minor, but the little girl inside of me wanted to try it. I wanted to try my hand at fiction. I figured this project would be my chance. Now that I am heading for graduation this may be the last required assignment and opportunity I have to put everything out there and not worry about the consequences. 

This play is about choices. It is about the split second that comes every so often where one infinity falls off into the next, a seemingly quick and effortless transition that brings people to their highest stakes and emotions. All of these characters are on the edge of a cliff. Some stand nearer to the edge, erect and poised. Some hold hands, maybe against their will. Some stand further back, observing the inevitable. These characters believe that this is one of those nights that is different from other nights, yet in many ways it is simply the first time that have chosen to pay attention to the now.  

 I am writing this play for myself, to cope with what I know is about to happen. Something I know, however cannot fully realize, simply because it hasn’t happened. I find it peculiar that there are so little plays about this time in someone’s life, the leap into adulthood. Life is a many series of leaps, but college in particular is a romanticized construct that “adults” love to sand over, especially in their third party advice. “Don’t forget why you’re there,” “Don’t miss out on the campus,” “Don’t sell yourself short,” “Don’t eat junk food,” “Don’t sacrifice sleep,” “Don’t drink too much,” “Don’t drink,” “Don’t do drugs,” “Don’t forget to experiment,” “Don’t fall in love,” “Don’t stay away from love,” “Don’t be afraid to try new things,” “Don’t limit yourself.” Don’t limit yourself.

Don’t limit yourself. Don’t limit yourself. Don’t limit yourself.