Allison Gregory is a fun, funny woman and the playwright of off the WALL Productions’ first show this season, Not Medea. Drawing inspiration from the Greek tragedy, Medea, Not Medea tells the story of Woman and her plight with motherhood, death, relationships… you know, all the normal shit women deal with today. So wait... Tyler Perry’s drag character is in a new play about Greece?
I knew I had to reach out to Allison Gregory to get to the bottom of this. I made an appointment to meet her on Zoom (a video conferencing app) and although we were both on time- she in Austin, me in Pittsburgh- technical difficulties made for an awkward first impression. The first ten minutes, I was totally frazzled, futzing around with the audio, gesturing wildly to see if she could hear me. She couldn’t, but she remained calm and serene as I tried desperately to fix the problem, hoping she wasn’t seeing the panic in my eyes. Finally! I resolved our sound issue and we quickly jumped into chatting like regular pals. Phew.
Spoiler alert: Tyler Perry is not in this play.
Allison Gregory has crafted a story that allows the audience to witness- right before their eyes- the ‘coming to terms’ of a flawed and spirited woman. We see her dark side and her humanity, and we laugh at it, because we’ve all been there too. In the short time we spoke, I saw in Gregory the same humor and spunk that lives within this play, especially in the character Woman (played by Drew Leigh Williams).
In the video excerpt below, Allison talks about what it's like being a playwright. She was open, honest and generous in her spirit and time with me. She even introduced me to her dog! (check out second 30).
Opening October 4 and running through October 19, be sure to see off the WALL Productions’ Not Medea. You will laugh, you will cry, you will see yourself … and then you will laugh and cry all over again.
off the WALL Productions. Pittsburgh’s alternative theater company. Equal. Diverse. Inclusive.