Play at Local Theater Serves Powerful Message

Tonight, for the first time since I began my journey through healing and as an advocate, I was in the company of those who truly "get it." While I was at Lantern Coffee Bar and Lounge last week, I met a man, Walter "Mac" Davis, who had written a play about Rape and Rape Culture titled Every Six Minutes.

The show ran this week at Dog Story Theater, starting on Monday (5/5) through Friday (5/9). I knew it would be essential for me to witness this play because clearly my passion lies with the topic. My husband, one of the only two men attending, sat next to me while I held my breath, unsure of how I would react.

As I have stated in my April blogs, I typically boast my Warrior and Elder identities when it comes to being in public and relating to my victimization. I tend not to let my Victim show, while letting the tears flow freely.

Within ten minutes into the opening of the show, I could feel the lump forming in my throat. Slowly it rose to the back of my tongue, up past my nasal passages, and then melted into a caustic pool of tears that not even a deep breath could evaporate.

A block early on in the show reveals the harrowing statistics of rape and with every one that applied to my specific case all I kept thinking was That's me...That's me...That's me too... It took every nerve I had not to start sobbing uncontrollably. I read and write these statistics consistently, but to have them represented in a work of art with such conviction made it more real to me. For once I didn't have to validate the injustice that exists in this world; they were doing it for me.

This play embodies the exact essence of what I have been grasping at with my words throughout April. Every monologue was so raw it made my heart wrench. When I asked my husband how he had felt after seeing the play he said, "At first I was uncomfortable, but I imagine I should... we all should." This is key.

Sugar-coating gets us nowhere when it comes to action. Without taking necessary steps to reveal the true horror behind rape, nothing can or will be done. People will continue to live in their utopian societies hiding from the darkness of reality.


I am posting this in hopes that possibly a few bright-minded will go see the last showing tomorrow (Friday 5/9) at 8 p.m. There is a brutal yet beautiful honesty displayed by the cast that can only be captured by actually seeing the show.

I will forever be indebted to Mac (and Karen) for reaching out that day in the coffee shop. Through his work, he has given me the hope that I can and will publish. I also thank the cast, especially those who  are familiar with the horror I have seen. Together we stand, together we fight.