Assistant Professor of Dramatic Writing Kimberly Belflower did not always aspire to be a playwright — not consciously, at least. She grew up in rural Appalachian Georgia, coming from a family of farmers. Before starting drama her senior year of high school, she had only acted in one production, “Brigadoon,” at age 11.
“My mom always tells the story of when she would make my brother and I play outside,” Belflower said. “I would be that kid who would grab sticks and rocks and make them talk to each other. And so … looking back, it was very clear.”
Belflower studied theater in college, starting at Young Harris College (Ga.) and then transferring to Columbus State University (Ga.). She later received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. Belflower joined Emory University as a playwriting fellow in 2019 before she became an assistant professor of dramatic writing.
In Rich Memorial Building 216, Belflower’s office is littered with trinkets — from a One Direction pencil holder to a Rococo-style porcelain figurine — showcasing her love of “small and weird” objects. Next to her desk, a bulletin board displays black and white photographs of people who inspire her: Sylvia Plath, Sandra Cisneros, Caryl Churchill, Georgia O’Keeffe, Audre Lorde and the Brontë sisters.
Belflower has numerous tattoos on her arms, including Harriet the Spy, the state flower from every state she’s lived in, Matilda and a shark tooth commemorating her play “John Proctor is the Villain.” On her right forearm, Belflower has a tattoo resembling the view from her childhood bedroom window. One side of the window is open, the other is closed. The tattoo is a reference to her play “Lost Girl,” as a window is the play’s central visual metaphor.
Now, Belflower is bringing “Lost Girl” to life at Emory. The show opens on Sept. 28 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.
Belflower began writing “Lost Girl” when she was 20 years old in 2008 and 2009, following her first heartbreak. At the time, Belflower’s friend told her that she had “Wendy Syndrome,” meaning Belflower neglected her own needs for others, like Wendy Darling in “Peter Pan.” Belflower loved “Peter Pan” growing up, and her friend’s comment combined with her emotional turmoil spurred her to return to the story.
“Lost Girl” draws from Belflower’s personal experiences as well as James Matthew Barrie’s 1911 novel “Peter and Wendy.” The play explores Wendy’s character in greater depth than Barrie’s original work. In “Lost Girl,” Wendy is no longer a doe-eyed girl. Rather, she is a young woman struggling with depression and heartbreak amid the confusion of growing into an adult, which Belflower describes as “an endlessly rich time.”
Belflower returns to girlhood and young adulthood as creative subjects throughout her discography, incorporating details from her own life into her work.
“Every day you’re a different person,” Belflower said. “Every day, something new is being felt for the first time … My girlhood lives very, very deeply in me.”
Belflower abandoned every other play she wrote in college, but held onto the original 13-page first draft of “Lost Girl.” She continued to revise it over the years and eventually turned it in as her submission play for graduate school. “Lost Girl” was later published by Samuel French in 2018, a decade after Belflower first wrote the play.
Despite the play being about the emotional turmoil of a young woman, “Lost Girl” nonetheless holds a timeless truth about youth, which Belflower believes is relatable for all audiences.
“It’s been so tremendously moving for me to work on the play here with my students,” Belflower said. “I was [their] age when I started writing this, and I’m in my mid-30s now, being so removed from that moment in my life, but then still being around that moment in life every single day as my job and reencountering the version of me that started writing this play has been so beautiful.”
Emory’s production of “Lost Girl” is not the first of its kind. The University of Texas and Milwaukee Repertory Theater have both put on productions of the play, which Belflower was heavily involved in as a playwright. However, she said directing the play offers a different creative experience, posing its own set of creative challenges.
Uniquely, “Lost Girl” moves continuously without any scene breaks, which Belflower said she and her students have struggled with during rehearsals.
“We had this recurring joke in rehearsal where I’ll get stuck on something, and I’ll say ‘God, who wrote this thing?’’’ Belflower said, laughing.
Nonetheless, Belflower described directing as a creatively fulfilling endeavor. She doesn’t see directing a play she wrote as realizing her singular, creative vision, but rather as a collaborative process akin to any other production. There’s always a new way to view the script — it’s iridescent and shifting.
It has been years since Belflower last directed, and she didn’t realize how much she missed it.
“I’m just so stinking proud of the ensemble of actors that we have,” Belflower said with a smile.
Her appreciation and love for her all-student cast, dramaturgy team, assistant director and assistant designers are palpable when she talks about them. Belflower remarked that she feels “lucky” to be working on “Lost Girl.”
“It's a very, very student-led process in a lot of ways, and I’m always the most excited about that,” Belflower said.
Belflower hopes Emory students will come out to support their peers involved in “Lost Girl” and, by extension, the Lenaia Playwriting Festival — a multi-day theater event featuring plays written, directed and performed by students — which will be held in March 2024.
“The magic of theater is that it’s ephemeral — it changes,” Belflower said. “Every production is different. Every night of each production is different.”
