This was the most autobiographical play I’ve ever written. It is the worst nightmare I’ve ever written. It reads beautifully. I read it last night. It is a fine piece of literature and a very performable play. And I believe this play would have an emotional impact on anybody. I really don’t think anyone could sit through this and not wonder deeply about how one gets through such a childhood.

Ownership is the story of a family. Or maybe two families or the wreckage of families. Adrian is the only son of Penny and Ted, to upper middle class hustlers who are as entrenched in their own egos as is possible. Penny is without restraint in her desires and unfortunately, she takes out her violent tendencies on Adrian. The play takes place in 1979 and 1999. In the earlier time, we see scenes of Adrian’s youth. Later, we see the family drama that transpires around a wedding. Adrian is a family outcast but his two kids are wanted in the ceremony. Kelly, Adrian’s ex-wife does not really want to participate in the wedding because she does not feel that she is a part of this family anymore. Penny is going to get her way no matter what and of course a lot of screaming and crying follow.

I think it would be easy to reframe this story as a comedy. If all writing is either a paycheck or therapy, I can see how people would go to comedy as a way of dealing with tragedy. I know when people are very ill and don’t feel well, they prefer to keep things light and friendly. They prefer to make jokes. It’s better not to dwell on the negative when you don’t feel so good.

I wrote ownership in Poland. I was crashed at a youth hospital, running up a tab because I didn’t really have money anymore, feeling unbelievably depressed and confined, I got into one of the darkest moods. It wasn’t technically a prison but any place is a prison if you don’t want to be there. And I didn’t want to be there. And then I started thinking about what it was like growing up. And I decided to write a play about it.

When the play was finished, I sent it to my relatives to read. Here. Here is a new play I’ve written. Tell me what you think about it. And the gossip started to fly. I am an outcast after all. My family at that time just played roles. It is hard to explain what it’s like being me. It’s like having true articulatness to understand almost anything and yet being stared at as if I understand nothing. I wonder about this sometimes. Am I not fast enough? When I ask myself this question in conversation with almost anyone anywhere, my mind is faster and more astute. People are asleep compared to me. How did they manage to keep this illusion going? How did they manage to keep the illusion going?

So where did these people come from? First generation Jewish immigrants. America in the ’70s and ’80s. We are talking about the beginning of globalization and obviously Ted and Penny were a part of the parade. They were getting paid and they were not going to let anyone stop the carousel from spinning. Maybe there are problem with Adrian was that he was showing no signs of being a go-getter. Maybe they should have asked him to be an earner. Maybe they should have presented the rules of the house is that everybody figures out how to make money. How are you going to make some money kid? They just didn’t understand why he didn’t easily adapt to the flow of the modern world.

Ownership. The feeling that something or someone is a possession of ours. We have in this story people who believe they have rights to others. Taxation without representation, of course. The right to manipulate as they like. Of course. The right to make others spend money and travel to places where only disaster waits for them. Exactly.

Personally, I think family sucks. I mean, if you actually have an in-law you like, that’s cool. I just prefer good people. I prefer people who are very self-sufficient because it requires the least from me. I also prefer sober people to people who drink and non-smokers to smokers. I’ll deal with pot smokers if they are grounded in reality and I’ll talk about religion if people are not holding the devil card waiting to play it at a fortune moment. But I’m tired of being told that I love someone because they have some position in the world I must respect. I can see having a connection to your parents or people who were physically there when you were growing up. If that was the situation, I’d say yeah. Family is everything because family is community. But in the modern world? I go solo. Nobody owns me. I own me. I am in complete ownership of my life.