Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to TyLie Shider. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

TyLie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

This is such a big question. But it may also be grounding to think about ones legacy ever so often in order to ensure that you are moving in the right direction, because it is easy to get lost in the minutia of life and forget the big picture. Legacy is the big picture, because it is how one will be remembered. And if I’m being frank, I want people to remember me. And the details (e.g. minutia) of what each person remembers about me may be determined by our respective relationship. However, there is one thing about me that every person in my life should be able to agree on, and that is my consistency about my craft and career as a writer. I want people to remember that I was a chubby boy who fell in love with literature, and adamantly pursued a professional life manipulating words and documenting stories for public consumption. Therefore, I hope my legacy would be that I was a man with a dream, and I was diligent enough to manifest that dream. I was very clear about who I was, and I still am. I knew I was a writer by the age of 12, or younger. And that clarity has been my lifeline.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I consider myself an investigative playwright. My academic background in journalism led to a career in playwriting. Writing for the theater grips me because it encompasses all of my literary interests such as: songwriting, reportage, prose, and poetry, etc. I am also passionate about theatre as a vehicle for civic engagement.
My body of work demonstrates my commitment, and creative conviction, to integrating civic practice, current events, history, and biography into the plays that I write. For example, in my play Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family I had questions about the 1967 race riot that changed my hometown forever, and so I started by interviewing my maternal grandparents, because they lived through the riots, but were not traditional ’street activists.’ However, my family was still effected by the breakout of the riots and the ensuing economic breakdown of the city of Plainfield, New Jersey. As a result, I did not inherit the same city my grandparents migrated-north to in the 60s – as part of the later wave of the Great Migration. This is what drove me to write a play about a family whose concerns are largely domestic during the riots, rather than ‘political.’ The same sentiments led me to write my contemporary-docudrama Whittier inspired by the 2020 uprisings in my titular neighborhood in Whittier, Minneapolis after the public murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin. I was writing about the conversations and decisions and actions that were unfolding in and around my neighborhood: The impromptu neighborhood watches, militias, and the boarding up of small businesses, etc. And this investigative sensibility continues to drive my playwriting.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a theater maker is that I get to make little communities everywhere I travel to develop and produce my plays. Writing could get lonely, but when you are writing for the theater, you are writing with an end goal to collaborate with others. So there is always this promise of community at the end of the road. I just think this is one of the sweet spots. It’s like cooking a big meal for some of your favorite people! The labor is worth it in the end. In the end, there’s going to be a party!

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

My mission is to create opportunities for creatives to exercise their gifts. This has always been what excites me about writing for the theater. Playwrights are generative creatives. When we write a play, we generate job opportunities for other theater makers. It’s that simple.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tylieshider.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplaywright/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LCXatTEKGs
• Other: Behind the scenes: Incubating ‘Whittier’ by TyLie Shider at ArtYard: https://vimeo.com/720713025

Image Credits
All known image credits are saved to the .Jpeg