blackbirdonline journalSpring 2009  Vol. 8  No. 1
poetryfictionnonfictiongalleryfeaturesbrowse

GALLERY


Bookmark and Share Share

G.K. WUORI

Wendy’s Friend

spacer he History of Anonymity by Jennifer Chang
 
 illustration by Bri Spicer 
spacer

Wendy’s Friend began as a short story, one of a whole bunch I wrote not long ago that drew upon some twenty years of working within the international community.

Overall, I think I wanted to dismantle at least some of the stereotypes of what “we” believe to be the immigrant’s experience in coming to the U.S. That the story eventually wanted to become a play is a tribute, I think, to the breadth and energy of these characters.

Wendy’s Friend is a tribute of sorts to every boss I’ve ever worked for who I felt was losing it, who just seemed kind of wacky, who always made the simple things difficult, and the difficult things more difficult.

Yet, I don’t know how many times I was privileged to see one of these seemingly hapless dolts come through at crunch time—an appropriate solution to some agonizing problem wielded with swift finality, like Herbert Longfellow’s old sword.

While it might be easy to think that Herbert Longfellow has lost “it,” I think the overall theme of the play is that you never really lose “it.” Sometimes you just put it away for a while.

Then you get naked and go take a nap.  bug

      Characters and Setting |  Scene One  |  Scene Two


   Contributor’s notes