Full Length, Drama, 2 hours
3M; 5W
Semifinalist, O’Neill Playwriting Conference, 2006
Finalist, Princess Grace Fellowship, 2006
Weissberger Award Nominee, 2005
“Reporter Girl” is the story of Dale Messick, America’s first syndicated female cartoonist, whose career began when she created the famous cartoon strip “Brenda Starr Reporter” in 1940. The legendary cartoonist continued to write and draw the comic strip for the next 40 years and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for cartooning in 1998. The play weaves together biographical detail, period history and fantasy to arrive at a dramatically touching portrait of Dale Messick’s life. Spanning five decades and three generations of strong women, this tale of misogyny, abortion, long odds, love and betrayal digs deep into the root of what it means to be a mother, an artist and an icon. The play is especially poignant because Dale Messick is the playwright’s grandmother.
First produced as a workshop reading at The American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, August 2003