Kenzie H. Knapp
Playwriting as Environmental
and Social Justice
Mission
Kenzie Knapp's mission with playwriting in particular is to create stories that provide space for folks to process and express climate anxiety in a way that unites and inspires the audience towards intersectional climate-justice action.
Their vision is to workshop Normalcy: A Climate-Fiction Musical and get it produced at a local amateaur or professional stage, as well as write and workshop new works to submit alongside it to local playwriting competitions within the next 5 years.
Vision
Values
As a young Queer, Bisexual, Femme artist, and also as a white anti-racist artist, Kenzie understands the need for representation of diverse identities in storytelling and by diverse storytellers. Especially as a white environmentalist, Kenzie acknowledges that she writes on and about stolen indigenous lands. Tacoma, Washington resides on Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Steilacoom, and Nisqually land which was stolen with the Treaty of Medicine Creek in 1854, and where these people still reside today. It is imperative that Black and Indigenous people of color are prioritized in storytelling as a whole, and for the cast and crew of Kenzie's plays. Storytelling flourishes in diversity the way that ecosystems flourish in biodiversity.
Professional Goals
My big-picture goal is to do everything in my power to contribute to the fight against climate change and for intersectional environmental justice in a way that best aligns with my skills and interests.
This would include primarily working for a nonprofit environmental organization who does work on political campaigns, community engagement, and environmental restoration.
I believe one of the powers of storytelling lies in its ability to process and express grief and anxiety in a way that unites and inspires audiences.
With this in mind, I want to write, direct, costume, and perform in theatre works with an intersectional environmental theme aimed to start conversation and galvanize action.
