MATTHEW McLACHLAN

PLAYWRIGHT

Matthew McLachlan was born in Scotland, raised in Florida, and currently survives in New York City. He is a Dramatist Guild Member, a two-time ScreenCraft Stage Play Finalist, and Samuel French OOB Festival Finalist. His plays have been at places like Abingdon Theatre Company, Nylon Fusion, The Chain Theatre, The PIT, and Thespis Theater Festival, with regional performances across the country. He's also been nominated for Best Writer of a Web Series (ADULTish), and his full-length play Orion has remained in the top 5 best-selling plays at The Drama Bookshop since it reopened in 2021.

.

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTES

I started writing Jack & Melissa on a dare. A friend dared me to write a play that somehow justified two characters talking to each other while one of their partners was dead in the other room. I don’t know when I officially “win” this dare, but you all being here seems to be a step in the right direction. As I wrote this play, it continued to resemble most of my work up until this point: just a really good idea. I was always afraid to deep dive into my heart and get to the “why” of something I wrote. So, this remained a funny premise that just made people chuckle, kinda. Then, a few drafts in, I stumbled upon what this play really means to me personally. What it was my subconscious was trying to say. My “why”.

Consider the two characters: one is a loner who, to do what he loves, must cut himself off from people, making him lonely, especially because most people wouldn’t understand why he does what he does and all he wants is connection. Am I describing a serial killer or a playwright? The other is someone who’s been tossed around and stepped on by people they love, and had their self-worth destroyed, so they accept whatever love they can get from whoever is willing to give it. See where I’m going with this? The two parts of myself I was afraid to bring together, right there in front of me in the form of these two wacky characters. I came to a fork in the road of my writing: Either keep writing the surface-level funny stuff or dive deep and give something of myself, no matter how heavy. So, I did that. I rewrote the whole play knowing that I was writing this to heal myself and bring the two parts of myself together, as unrealistic as it may have felt.

I really do hope you enjoy this play and perhaps get a sense of connection within yourself from watching it. Or perhaps you end up feeling a bit of your own loneliness subside while you experience these two characters. Or, at the very least, I just hope you have a really good laugh. If any of those things happen here today, I’ll consider my dare won. Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to meeting you.

-Matthew

.

New York City

Open Jar Studios • March 2023

Justin Bartha

Erin Cherry

JACK

MELISSA

Directed by

Madison Hatfield