Review Fix Exclusive: Georgette Kelly Talks ‘Ballast’

Review Fix chats with “Ballast” playwright Georgette Kelly, a part of the F* It Club’s Spring Fling at the IRT Theatre in New York City from April 23 to May 8.

Designed to showcase high-quality, brand-new ten-minute plays, The Spring Fling offers emerging and established playwrights the chance to develop their work with the support of professional directors and designers and a cast of exceptionally talented New York artists.

For more information on the production and the Spring Fling, Click Here. 

Review Fix: What was the inspiration behind the play?

Georgette Kelly: I wanted to write a play about the experience of the partners of trans folks.  And dreaming.  And learning how to fly.

Review Fix: Were there any particular challenges during the writing process?

Kelly: There are lots and lots of very short scenes in Ballast, so it was quite a challenge to structure and outline them.

Review Fix: What makes you different from other playwrights?

Kelly: My writing is highly visual and poetic–I want my plays to be a playground for designers and directors to create seemingly impossible worlds.

Review Fix: How do you want this production to affect people?

Kelly: I’d like audience members to think about gender identity and spirituality in new ways.  I’d like the play to push them out of their comfort zones and leave them with questions.

Review Fix: Who do you think would enjoy it the most?

Kelly: People who have loved someone during a time of great transition.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone see it?

Kelly: Because it’s a story that hasn’t yet been told in American theatre.

Review Fix: What have you learned about yourself through this production?

Kelly: terraNOVA’s Groundbreakers Playwrights Group has taught me, once again, about the incredible difference it makes to have a supportive community of artist-friends.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Kelly: An excerpt of Ballast will be read at the LMDA conference this June, as part of The Alliance Theatre’s Kendeda programming.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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