Dowtown
Nurse to playwright
She went in as a nurse and came out a playwright. Kimberly La Force entered the nursing program with one year as a registered nurse in her cap with all intentions of continuing her medical career, but a funny thing happened on the way to the podium. Our pal took a creative writing course led by Prof. Jane Mushabac and the rest, as they say, is blockbuster Broadway history.
Prof. Mushabac challenged her class to write a courtship play.
“I wanted to write a play that would reflect the conversations about marriage that are discussed in soft tones or behind closed doors.” Kimberly said. “Some of these issues include men and women’s different perspectives on marriage, the use of marriage as a pathway for U.S. citizenship, and marriage as a commodity.”
The assignment was so good that “A Marriage Proposal,” the short play, was submitted and subsequently selected to be published in the 2010-2011 anthology of “Best American Short Plays by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books” last August.
Kimberly did graduate with her degree in nursing and will seek her masters at Columbia University in 2013. In the meantime, she plans on merging her love of nursing with her newfound love of writing.
“I’d like to write stories and scenarios for medical professionals to teach them how to communicate better with patients,” she said. “That way, I can play a role in improving healthcare in the U.S.”
Standing O can’t wait to see “A Marriage Proposal” on Broadway. It’s sure to be a shoo-in for an Obie or a Tony.
New York City Technical College [300 Jay St. at Myrtle Avenue Downtown, (718) 260–5500].
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