Each month on The Subtext, Brian speaks with a playwright about life, writing, and whatever itches we are scratching.

This month Brian talks to the founding member of the Obie-winning collective 13P and playwright of The Penetration Play and In Darfur about her journey from working as a page at The New York Times to a trying her luck as a struggling androgynous actor and playwright, and about the importance of mentorship and collaboration.

Miller says she makes and champions art to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. For Miller, the reason she’s a playwright is “to be connected to other people. That’s all I’m interested in: What is the connection, and can we make this world a better place for any of us who want it and need it?” Miller said. “It’s mainline empathy. When you write a play and it has something in it that opens a door for someone about something, that stays with them…When they feel or when we feel our own empathy for someone else, for ourselves, that connection is the thing that changes us. That’s what changes culture.”

Miller wrote the libretto for the opera No One Is Forgotten in winter 2028, adapted from her play of the same name, which was produced during the pandemic as an immersive radio opera with Dallas Opera, Lexicon Classics, and Emitha. Her drama In Darfur premiered at the Public Theater. Other plays include 1973, When Monica Met Hillary, The Arrival, and Animalia Arthropoda. Fellowship highlights include Sundance, Hedgebrook, Joe’s Pub, Bogliasco, The Civilians, and Cherry Lane Mentor Project. She is an affiliate writer with the Playwrights’ Center, New Georges, and a member of the Dramatists Guild. She teaches playwriting at colleges and her ongoing independent writing workshops Monday Souls and Bridge. Best of all: Eartha Kitt once held her left hand for five minutes.

The play filling Brian up this month is small town icons by SMJ. Read more about it here.

This episode can also be found here, and is also available on iTunes and Spotify.