Alumni Spotlight: Miriam Tobin & SCRiB Lab – Goddard Alumni Association

Today we’re talking to Miriam BC Tobin, winner of the Goddard Alumni Association Spirit Grant for her work with SCRiB Lab, a writing organization aimed at creating community through experimentation. SCRiB Lab provides writing labs in three categories: SCRiBE for literary writers; SCRiPT for dramatic writers; and SCRiBBLE for ideas seekers. Besides creating a playful space for writers, Miriam is a contemporary absurdist playwright, interested in using the grandiose and extraordinary to explore human truths.

We talk about Absurdism with a capital A in theater: how absurdism (like rocks starting to talk) can be used not to be silly or funny, but to make a point about human existence. Miriam says, “Absurdism is this idea, or this concept of what happens when a human faces the greater universe. And is that space in between ‘I am a small little human’ and the devastation of seeing the great expanse of the universe.” We also talk about how the themes of Absurdism relate to classical Greek and Roman theater, in how humans relate to nature.

At Goddard, Miriam was exposed to pre-Columbian drama (particularly Mayan) and Noh drama, both of which influenced her thesis play. She was specifically drawn to how both of those eras engage the community/audience in the participation or spectacle of the plays, and how the stories continue beyond the end of the theater piece.

Keep up with Miriam and SCRiB Lab at:

Website: https://mirbct.com/plays

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scrib.lab/

Website: https://www.scriblab.org/

And if anyone wants to compose an opera with Miriam, or sponsor SCRiBLAB do get in touch!