My project is a one act play called The 7th Floor Apartment, which occurs on a fiery night that Estefania and her father’s apartment catches on fire and they are forced to wait outside until it is safe to go back in. However, when an unexpected friend comes by to help, dark secrets begin to unfold as Estafania is forced to relive a painful moment in her life.

I started writing this project a while back while I was in college since I had been new to playwriting and wanted to explore it more. I worked on it a great deal with my professor and eventually with the help of a playwright named Sibusiso Mamba, I got a chance to develop it further just in time for its premiere with STREAM ON productions. However, after its premiere, I had not revisited the play until recently when I felt like I was having the biggest writing block ever. There were a lot of ideas of stories I wanted to write during my season with Storyteller Studio, but I always ended up coming back to the possibility of doing some rewrites on The 7th Floor Apartment. Therefore, I decided to listen to that gut feeling that told me it was time to open my play back up again. It was a slow process with a lot going on in my life post grad and I had a couple of rewrites here and there but eventually I came to the script presented here. Although I plan to keep on rewriting, the Studio has presented me with a lot of tools to use as inspiration and as motivation to continue with this project as I’ve been able to meet a lot of artists who manage continuing to make art while also trying to make an honest living outside of the arts. It’s been immensely helpful to meet such artists and hear their stories as it helps me become a better artist myself.