Ashton Tibbitt

Ashton Tibbitt is a writer, dramaturg, and theatre generalist from central North Carolina. After working extensively throughout the country as a theatrical carpenter, scenic artist, and props craftsperson, Ashton graduated with a BA in Musical Theatre, focusing on all aspects of theatre craft and production. Upon moving to New York, Ashton pursued an MFA in Graduate Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch. Ashton’s writing explores blurred, obscured, or otherwise forgotten queer historical narratives. Previous work includes the full-length musicals Hi, I’m Al (reading 2016) and A Streak of Lavender (MFA thesis; reading 2018); as well as an original libretto for The Thieving Cactus (NYU Opera Lab 2019/2020).

Title of Project

±10

Description of Project

Returning to a private video diary I recorded daily in 2012 (10 years ago), I explore questions of: What do we choose to preserve, and why?; What can we discover in the gaps between our memories and the tangible proof of the past?; Where does "truth" of the past lie when we have hid behind shame?; How can we use the act of revisiting our own sensitive personal memories, to build frameworks of care in listening more deeply to others? In this presentation, I'll talk about why I created these materials, what I expected to find when revisiting them for the first time, what I was surprised to find, questions that arose, and plans moving forward. This presentation will be presented in a casual storytelling manner, in conversation with written and recorded material of my younger self.

Areas of Academic Interest

Dramaturgy, Musical Theatre, Queer Theory, Memory Studies