We were lucky to catch up with Dani Herd recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dani, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on lately was my one-person show, “gender euphoria: a story in three peters parker,” which I developed for the 2022 Atlanta Fringe Festival. When I came out as trans a few years ago, a big part of my heart really believed my performance career was over. So, it meant a lot to be given the space to create a show entirely FOR ME. I didn’t have to go into an audition space and worry about whether or not I looked too trans or not trans enough. There was no box to fit into, because I was designing the box.

Writing and performing this show made me feel like the creative life I yearn for in the future is still possible, and I feel motivated and excited to keep making weird stuff that hopefully makes folks happy and less alone.

Also, I love Spider-Man very much.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I mostly think of myself as a Writer these days, but I do and have done a lot of stuff! As a writer, I’m primarily a playwright and essayist, though I’m wading back into poetry recently. (I also write really good and earnest queer fanfiction, if you’re into such things.) My first-full length play, “monster girls at sunshine doughnuts,” was a 2020 Ethel Woolson Lab recipient through Working Title Playwrights. I have developed one-person shows for the Atlanta Shakespeare Company and for the Atlanta Fringe Festival. I am also a co-producer and frequent combatant with Write Club Atlanta.

Onstage you might have seen me slinging verse and blades with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company. Previous fave credits include Rosalind, Kate, and Lady Macbeth. I’ve also been Kylo Ren for Star Wars Shakespeare at Dragon Con for the past few years, so I am basically blonde Adam Driver.

At my core as a storyteller (I guess that’s the word I’m going with), I want to connect and make you feel better. I want to make you laugh, I want to make you feel less alone. I want you to know that I will never think I’ve “solved” anything. I want to keep trying new things and making a huge mess, because that’s fun and that’s how we discover.

Oh, I’m a giant nerd. If you decide to follow me, get ready for a lot of thoughts about Muppets and monsters and queer YA lit.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’m a big collector of quotes that mean a lot to me. I’ve got Walt Whitman tattooed on one arm, and Kermit the Frog on the other. And, with all due respect to Walt, right now Kermit is who guides me most. There’s a moment in The Muppet Movie when, while literally talking to himself, Kermit realizes: “I guess I was wrong when I said I never promised anybody. I promised me.”

Sometimes this (gestures around) is hard, and almost always the art I create is interested in exposing my soft underbelly. I’m 33 now, and I get sleepy and my knees hurt. But I promised me a long, long time ago that we would find ways to get up onstage and be loud and make people happy. It’s what I have always liked the best, and I promised me it would always be a part of my life.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Tell creative folks when you like their work! Tell them specifically why!! Don’t worry about being awkward — so long as you’re being polite, I always want to hear after a show, in person or via IG message or ANYTHING, that somebody connected to something I said. It gives me so much energy to keep going!

Also: Pay people! Ticket sales are awesome. If your creative person makes tangible stuff, buy it from them! If it’s someone like me who just has words to offer, send me coffee money on Venmo! Investigate how to financially support the art that means something to you. Being worried about finances constantly is a soul-sucking endeavor, and it really gets in the way of creation, especially when you also need a day gig to support yourself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: danitriestheirbest
• Twitter: DaniTheDinosaur

Image Credits
Headshot credit: Stacey Bode.