Donna Hayes, Playwright

Donna Hayes is writing a play that gives people murdered by police an opportunity to speak. Beginning with the story of her grandson, Quanice “Moose” Hayes, she lets each person speak about what made them laugh, who they loved, and what happened. What’s most wonderful about her work is that it’s not angry or morose or sad: it’s funny, tender, dear. Each person reveals their living personality—the person who speaks is the person they were before they became hashtags. They talk about music, food, friends; about mistakes they made, about the people who were close to them, the people they would talk to now, if they could speak. 

She surrounds the monologs with a chorus taken from actual newspaper comments—hateful, ignorant, supportive, sympathetic. Commenters, most of whom post their comments anonymously and didn’t know the person killed by police, have opinions and little else—like the choruses in many classic tragedies. 

When I first mentioned her play, she was writing the stories of teenagers killed by police. She has expanded the play to include ten voices, including mature people killed by police while having mental health crises or while living in the streets, unhoused. I’m giving her a hand with editing. Her cat Duchess is also helping.