Two Truths and a Lie: An Ethnodramatic Exploration of Resistance and Relationships Between Women in Our Current Political and Social Climate

Abstract

In 2021, I created the verbatim documentary play, Two Truths and a Lie, to address how verbatim documentary theatre can serve as a springboard for dialogue regarding perceived truths around the 2016 and 2020 elections. This new verbatim documentary interlaces my connection with three of the conservative women I interviewed in 2019 around their response to “What are your thoughts about the 2020 election?” and incorporating the game, Two Truths and a Lie, to engage audience discussion around bias and perceived truth. The play emerged from a ten-day playwright retreat at The Hundredth Hill Artist Residency and was performed in Bloomington, Indiana, in the summer of 2021. This article aims to unpack and chronicle my experience in creating and performing this new work by narrowing in on the project’s methodology with excerpts from the script, performance and (in)-show discussion reflections, and future outcomes.