Interview: Theatre Life with Danielle A. Drakes and Kelsey Mesa

Today’s subjects Danielle A. Drakes and Kelsey Mesa are currently living their theatre lives as the director and playwright respectively of Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s World Premiere production of La Salpêtrière. The show runs through October fourteenth at the company’s artistic home Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW).

Both Danielle and Kelsey are longtime Taffety Punk Theatre Company members and have served in capacities of performing, assistant directing and directing.

Danielle developed and created Havanna Hop and Paige in Full with the oh so fly creative genius known as Paige Hernandez. As a performer, Danielle created the role of Elizabeth Keckley for Ford’s Theatre’s acclaimed History on Foot program.

Her most recent directing credits include The Wilting Point at Keegan Theatre and Ghost/Writer at Rep Stage.

Kelsey’s directing credits include Crimes of the Heart at Catholic University; Fefu and Her Friends at the University of Maryland, College Park; The Pavilion, The Magi, and Wish List at the Hub Theatre; and Othello, Antigonick, She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange, The Trojan Women, Charm, and dREAMtRIPPIN’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company.

When not creating artistic greatness with her fellow punks, Kelsey is the Manager of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) and Theater Education, as well as the Resident Director of the Kennedy Center Directing Intensive.

For almost 20 years now, Taffety Punk has been creating superb and affordable to all work. The company members include some of the best artists working in DC theatre and beyond. Taffety Punk proves that you don’t need a huge budget to create quality work if you are passionate about what you are doing.  

Please consider supporting Taffety Punk Theatre Company by grabbing some seats to La Salpêtrière. By doing so, you are supporting the work of Danielle A. Drakes, Kelsey Mesa, and all of the creative artists that put the show together.

Danielle and Kelsey are living their theatre lives to the fullest and as I’ve said before, that’s always a good thing!

How did you get interested in theatre?

Danielle- I was enrolled in an arts program in third grade. I got to experience all the arts and theatre stuck.

Kelsey- I can’t remember NOT being interested in theatre—my mom used to craft puppets when I was young, and both my parents enjoyed going to the theatre. They took me to see shows when they could. One of my fourth-grade teachers taught a unit on playwriting, and I remember taking the assignment and running with it. 

Did you go to school for theatre? If yes, where did you receive your training?

Danielle- Yes, I attended undergrad at Goucher College for my BA in Theater and received my MFA in Acting from Catholic University.

Kelsey- I went to Northwestern University, where I majored in Theater and graduated from the Creative Writing for the Media honors program.

How did you first come to Taffety Punk?

Kelsey- My Kennedy Center internship supervisor David Polk was an early Taffety Punk company member, and he connected me to Marcus Kyd when I wanted to start working in the DC theatre community. I was Lise Bruneau’s assistant director for the Riot Grrrls’ Measure for Measure in 2009—and then went on to assist Lise on at least a half dozen more productions. Eventually, I got to direct for Taffety Punk and became a company member myself.

Danielle- I was cast in my first Riot Grrrls production of Trojan Women in 2017. Then I played Othello in another Riot Grrrls production.

Kelsey- Where did the idea for La Salpêtrière come from and can you also tell us a little something about the play in general?

The play is inspired by Sady Doyle’s book Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear…and Why. Her chapter on the famous hysterics of La Salpêtrière hospital led me read Asti Hustvedt’s Medical Muses: Hysteria in Nineteeth-Century Paris and the play was born from my fascination and disgust with that part of our history.

The play is about Yvette, a housewife who wakes up in the ward at La Salpêtrière with no memory of how she got there. She meets two famous hysterics, Didi and Antoine, and the trio have to figure out how to move forward in a world that has labeled them hysterics merely because they are women.

It’s a mash-up of a lot of different parts of La Salpêtrière’s history and is absurd—but only because the truth was absurd to begin with. I made up far less than you’d think. For example—one treatment for stopping hysterical fits was “ovarian compression.” They would push on or punch women’s ovaries, and Charcot invented a device so they wouldn’t have to do it manually.

Danielle- What were your initial thoughts after your first read of La Salpêtrière?

Initially, I thought that it was a terrifying story told with care for the fullness of the women’s identity. I thought it was very funny and unsettling enough to really have an impact on audiences.

I was drawn to the aural world of the play. I wanted the sound of the women to be as much a part of the sound design as the actual sound cues.         

The very first conceptual idea I had was to have scratches and other marks on the walls of the set.

Kelsey- There are many theatre companies in DC that you could have submitted La Salpêtrière to for its world premiere. What was it about Taffety Punk that made you choose them for the show’s first production?

Taffety Punk is my artistic home. I’ve directed many productions for the company, I know its aesthetic, and I share its artistic values. The punks have let me grow as an artist, so it was an easy choice to bring the first-play-I’ve-finished-in-fifteen-years to this company. I also love making theatre in the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop’s black box; all of the theatrical images that popped up in my mind while I was writing were already at CHAW.

Danielle- You are a director and performer. Do you find that one is more satisfying than the other or are they equal in enjoyment?

They are like apples and oranges, really.

After La Salpêtrière is up and running, what is next for you for the rest of 2023 and into 2024?

Kelsey- This is not quite “next,” but I am directing a production of Crimes of the Heart for Catholic University at the exact same time La Salpêtrière is rehearsing. After both productions open, I want to take the next few months and start writing a new play. I am also the Manager of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which kicks off in earnest in January 2024, so I am looking forward to meeting more of the next generation’s theatre-makers.

Danielle- I am a full-time assistant professor of theatre at Towson University and I will be directing How to Catch Creation by Christina Anderson in March 2024.

Special thanks to Taffety Punk Theatre Company's Artistic Director Marcus Kyd for his assistance in coordinating this interview.

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