Original artwork by: Justin Walsh
Author's Statement
HEART/LUNG began in 2010 during Rogelio Martinez’s playwriting class at Montclair State University. It was my final exam assignment: take an obituary and write a 10-minute play inspired by the person’s life. I came across the obituary of a trailblazing doctor—only the fourth woman to graduate from the Sloan Kettering Institute. Her list of accolades was long, but what struck me was that, despite everything she accomplished, the obituary only had one comment—left by someone claiming to be her first patient.
That moment became the seed.
At the time, I wanted to explore romance in my writing—any kind of romance, really. I was also deeply inspired by Greek tragedies like Antigone, especially the use of the Greek Chorus. I wanted to merge those two impulses into something theatrical, layered, and emotional. That first draft was raw, but something about it stuck with me.
As I developed the piece, I became more aware of the frustrations voiced by women in my theater department—talented, capable artists who struggled to find leading roles or meaningful representation on stage. Meanwhile, as an actor, I often had an easier path. I realized I had an opportunity—not just to write a compelling play, but to use my voice to amplify others. So I expanded HEART/LUNG into a longer piece and presented it as the headliner in a night of one-acts I produced in the spring of 2011—my final creative act as an undergrad.
The response was overwhelmingly positive. But more importantly, I realized I had stumbled into something larger than I initially understood. As a straight man, I didn’t know much about homosexuality. I didn’t know what it was like to be a woman navigating a patriarchal world. So I decided to listen.
Over the next decade, I interviewed a wide spectrum of people: LGBTQ+ individuals fighting to be seen, conservative voices who rejected queerness altogether, self-made women who broke every ceiling, and soft-spoken mothers whose lives revolved around others. I wrote, revised, directed, and produced this play through that lens of continued learning.
I’ll be the first to admit: I haven’t always gotten it right. In my youth, I may have been one of the unnamed men in this play—the kind who made women feel “less than” or made queer people feel “othered.” But my goal with HEART/LUNG has always been to reach toward empathy. We may never live through each other’s struggles, but we can strive to understand them.
As a Black man in America, I live with the fear that my skin color could put me in danger. I long for a world where I don’t have to live in that fear—and I believe no one else should have to either. Not women. Not queer people. No one should live in fear of judgment, violence, or erasure simply for existing as themselves.
At its core, HEART/LUNG is about that very belief: that no matter who we are, who we love, or how we move through the world, we all deserve to live with joy, dignity, and truth. This play is the conclusion of 15 years of learning, unlearning, and listening.
And I’m still listening.
— A.J. Dwayne
