Sharece M. Sellem: America’s Ghost Hunter

As a lifelong theatre geek, I was exceedingly grateful for the opportunity to Zoom with multi-talented theatre maker, Sharece M. Sellem to discuss biracial identity, public health, being a “playwright,” the opioid crisis, Friendly’s, and other intrigue during a spirited conversation underpinned by the upcoming premiere of her brilliant choreopoem The Ghost of America’s Past as part of The Play Writers Festival. 

The following includes transcribed excerpts from my conversation with Sharece M. Sellem on Friday, August 20, 2021.

Rachael
I watched your choreopoem, The Ghost of America’s Past. I watched it last night and again this morning. Some very good stuff. I loved the message. How are you today?

Sharece
I’m good. Thanks for asking. I’m actually recovering from the vaccine. So, if I’m a little bit like…loopy, I’m still in recovery mode.

Rachel
That is okay. I took the vaccine as well. My first shot: I was out of commission all weekend. So, are you from Hartford, Connecticut or…?

Sharece
Originally from Hartford and Wethersfield, and then New Haven for about ten years…eleven years.

Rachael
And I saw that you are experienced both in front of and behind the camera. How do you decide what you are going to do?

Sharece
It depends on the project. Over the years, I’ve grown into this…more of being just the playwright. “Playwright” is like my number one hat and number one passion. I feel like that’s the thing that inspires me the most, drives me the most…is to write. I’m always inspired, so I’ll have to just write it down. So, that’s my number one. My number two is directing. I mostly do stage stuff. So, film is kind of like a…it’s a thing that I have dabbled in a little bit. This was a unique project for me.

Rachael
And what about this project, other than the film aspect, made it unique? I know that the film industry pulls from the stage, for sure. Especially these days.

Sharece
Yeah, but this was different. I feel like this piece could be used as an art installation…in a museum. It was different in that you have actual settings—actual locations—as opposed to it being on a stage where you manipulate the settings. So, that’s what made it different. And also, having someone interpret your piece in such a different way. I mean, every director, when it comes to stage, they’re going to interpret a piece how they’re going to interpret the piece. But with it being on film, it was a different level of interpretation.

Rachael
Did you feel like the film communicated as much as the stage performance?

Sharece
I don’t know. I think it was really the filmmaker’s vision. I mean, that’s how she interpreted it, but I don’t…I think it’s just different. There’s no, like, “is it better or not?” Or “was this really the message?” It was the message for her. If that makes sense.

Rachael
Got it. Definitely makes a lot of sense. I know that you said being a playwright and directing, those are your two most intense passions.

Sharece
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Rachael
Where does that come from? How did you get into that? It’s very rare to hear someone be like, “Yeah, I’m a playwright.”

Sharece
Haha, right? Yeah. So as a kid, I was always a writer. And then I would draw. I would put together illustrations to go along with my writing. And so, I was always an artist. And as I get older, I’m finding that that’s really my number one passion, because I’m constantly thinking up different stories. Different things inspire me on a regular basis. I’m always wanting to create a script for that idea. And yeah, I think that’s what really makes me [a] playwright. I’m always looking at things in a different way, always trying to take, pull from something and then reimagine it as something on stage that we can experience live. And I really have a taste for social justice. Like my lens has, so I have more of a social justice lens now. And I think 2020 and 2021 really brought that on for me even more.

Rachael
Obviously, they’re in your work already, but what aspects of social justice do you think are most important for you to touch on? And what’s something that you haven’t done yet that you would like to do?

Sharece
Public health as a whole is something that I’m passionate about. There are so many parts to public health, racism, or anti-racism, poverty is a big part of it. And so, those are things that I’m finding myself constantly writing about. [Also,] women’s issues. These are the areas that I’m passionate about in social justice.

Rachael
For sure. And Vintage Soul Productions is your production company, correct?

Sharece
Yeah.

Rachael
And is the ethos behind that tied to social justice? What’s the tea?

Sharece
It’s going more into that direction. The impetus for it was my passion for history and theatre. And now, it’s becoming this thing where it has more of a social justice focus. My plan [was] to make this part of it be a nonprofit. Right now, it’s a for-profit, but Theater for the Soul is the nonprofit part that I’m working on. I’m turning that part into a 501(c)(3) and then doing work that focuses on public health under that.

Rachael
Is that something you’re doing in the community or something you want to grow to be?

Sharece
Yeah, my goal is to be able to use Theater for the Soul as an outreach vehicle for nonprofits and public health organizations because they need more creativity.

Rachael
I’m sure.

Sharece
And people are, you know, they work in these nonprofit jobs. They sit around the table, and they constantly mull over the issues that are going on in the community. And yeah, they may hold some community conversations to gather data and things like that, but that’s not enough, you know? So, the creative brain in me is like, ‘Okay, yes, I have this nonprofit lens, this public health lens, but we need to put theatre together with it.’ This would be a vehicle for outreach and have plays instead of presentations for the community. Because that, to me, will create more of an impact that builds empathy. It helps people see things in a different way, especially people who work in the field. So, yeah. That would be the ultimate goal.

Rachael
I also think there’s something to be said for using a creative outlet to shed light on some of these issues that you’re talking about, like social justice, especially when it comes to health and social justice. It’s always been whispered about in our community. Like, you know, maybe you go to the doctor, maybe you don’t.

Sharece
Mental health. Yeah.

Rachael
Yeah.

Sharece
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Rachael
But I think with what’s happened in the past couple of years, it’s on the forefront. We have proof that we’re not treated the same.

Sharece
Oh, of course. Yeah, and I forgot to mention a couple other things…As far as social justice and public health. The other things I’m passionate about are recidivism, incarceration, and the opioid crisis. I’ve done some work on the opioid crisis.

Rachael
So, is the opioid crisis…is it huge in Connecticut? Is that something that’s really big there?

Sharece
This is a national issue. Yeah. It’s a pandemic. Another epidemic that we’re dealing with in this country. It’s major. It’s major worldwide, but there’s a huge focus on it here. And Connecticut, in particular, has a high rate of deaths due to opioid overdose. Currently I live in Delaware, and here, it’s definitely a huge thing.

Rachael
Yeah. I’m slightly familiar with Delaware. Just enough to be dangerous. Slightly familiar.

Sharece
Yeah. It’s its own little world, a lot of green, lot of trees.

Rachael
For sure, for sure. You blink, you’re going to miss it.

Sharece
Right. Exactly. You just drive through it to get to Philly.

Rachael
Yeah. That’s exactly how I became familiar with it. And they have, is it Friendly’s?

Sharece
Friendly’s is Connecticut.

Rachael
Okay.

Sharece
You know what? They do have some Friendly’s down here in Delaware, but I think after here, that’s it.

Rachael
Okay.

Sharece
One of my favorite places.

Rachael
Is it? Yeah. So, I had never had it; never heard of it before. We drove to New York last fall, me and my mom, and she’s like, “We got to stop at Friendly’s on the way back.” And now I have, like, a thing for Friendly’s.

Sharece
Oh man, turkey melt and Reese’s Pieces sundae.

Rachael
The ice cream. Yeah. And I really shouldn’t have ice cream. I’m lactose, but you know, it was worth the cheat.

Sharece
Yeah.

Rachael
Definitely worth the cheat. So, with all of the great things that you have going on, what is something that’s on the horizon for you?

Sharece
Just this piece or with Vintage Soul all together?

Rachael
Both.

Sharece
Okay. This piece: I definitely want to explore it more. I want to see other interpretations of the piece, see how people have, you know…what comes to mind when they hear it, because I know it’s a very dark piece. It’s a little bit of a call to action, a little bit of, putting some truth out there. I mean, people know it already, it’s just, we don’t want to address the fact that there’s a ghost looming around, you know? As a society, it’s like, we’ll do everything around it, but just not deal with that.

Rachael
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sharece
So, I would like to see different interpretations of the piece. I would like to see it live, performed on stage with a body. I would love to see that. At this point, I’ve only seen it done with video. There are two videos of this piece. A student performed it in Minnesota and there’s this piece. And so, I’d like to see it done live.

Rachael
Awesome. Any new projects you’re working on?

Sharece
Vintage Soul building upon Theater for the Soul. I will be moving it down to Delaware. So, technically, it’s a Connecticut business, but it will now be a Delaware business. And I’m working on establishing it as a for-profit and a nonprofit. Recently I’ve worked with Coalescence Theatre Project. I directed some work with them, and I have little seeds of ideas that have been percolating in the back of my mind. I have a character that I can’t seem to shake. She kind of comes to me in my dreams. I know that sounds a little bit cliché as a writer, but it’s true. Her name is Esther and she lives in the 1800s in the South and she’s mixed. She is very rebellious and there’s some stuff going on in her town. And yeah, I’d be curious to see what I’m going to do with that piece. If I just want to turn her into a book or if I want to make a play out of her. I’m not sure, but she’s there. So, that’s something I’m planning.

Rachael
She’s there. She’s this person. Is it, when you do this kind of, like, character creation, are they based on people you’ve met before?

Sharece
I think they’re pieces of people if that makes sense. Somebody could have an aesthetic that I like, and a character will take that on. Or they can have something in their personality; or they could have said something. It could have literally been a line that I just take: I’m like, “Oh, that’s a line,” and I give it to that character. So, different things about people, but each of my characters are always piecemeal people. I think about one in particular from Daisies on Harlem’s Doorstep, there’s a character named “Can.” She is all these characters that I know from my life in the past just mixed into one person. So yeah.

Rachael
How often, or how many of these characters have a little bit of you in there?

Sharece
I think all of them do. And I think most writers, even if they don’t want to admit it, that’s the goal, you know? Like there’s you, they can’t leave you, they come from you.

Rachael
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sharece
You created them…all of them have a little piece of me in there somewhere. Whether it be something superficial or something deep within my personality. Or it could have been a situation that I went through, and then I put that as part of their storyline or whatever. They’re all a piece of me in some way.

Rachael
Okay. So, you’ve said that this character, “Esther,” she comes to you in your dreams. How long does that really go on before you’re like, I got to put this down? I have to put this in something.

Sharece
Well, I got her story, there was one night where I really, really could not sleep and I was recovering from a migraine, and I got up and I just started writing like crazy. I wrote a full storyline. It’s a skeleton of a storyline. I know I’m not going to use all of it, but it came to me as a nice flow. And so, I filled up a notebook with her story, but she’s not done. She’s not done. There [are] a lot of things I have to flesh out about her to make it all connect and to really establish who she is. But the main thing that really sticks out to me about her now, and I know this might sound a bit weird or, esoteric, but her spirit sits with me. So, I can almost feel her dress. I almost feel like I can wear her dress. Or, I’ve walked by her dress. She’s becoming very real, but until she’s like fully, fully real, I can’t craft the story. And I haven’t decided if she’s going to be a book or a play or what. So once I’ve decided that, then I’ll be able to write it out.

Rachael
You mentioned that she was mixed: of mixed race. What kind of hold does that have on her? I only imagined that you mentioned it ‘cause it’s a very important part of this character. So, what is that? And she’s from the South; the 1800’s. So that already tells me a lot. What kind of impact does that have on this character or writing about this character for you?

Sharece
Yeah, it kind of gives me a little bit of the same feeling as The Ghost of America’s Past, because I still feel like…okay, in my personal situation, my mother is not white American, right? She wasn’t born here. She was born in France and then came here when she was eight years old. She is white by society’s standards. Her father is Polish. Her mother is Algerian French. But still, as you know, from society’s perspective, there is my mother who is a white woman, my father, who is a Black man.

Rachael
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sharece
Or different types of perspectives. And I feel like there’s a lot of misunderstanding and quick labeling. I want to play with that and see what happens.

Rachael
Yeah. Ghost touches on that because it talks about 400 years that we try to put blinders to.

Sharece
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.

Rachael
Wow. I love that. I had another question. It was there, but I got so into this response about Esther; my friend Esther. So, back to this playwright-directing piece, I know that you also choreograph. What’s the biggest difference between “Sharece the playwright” and “Sharece the choreographer”?

Sharece
Mm. Music inspires all this stuff for me. Music inspires the writing and the movement. The choreography is just another way to get an idea across for me: for the words or just for the sound. And so that piece to me needed to be a choreopoem. When the whole George Floyd situation happened, Ghost came to me right after that. And because I’m seeing all these Facebook posts of people going back and forth, back and forth, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but you’re not getting to the ghost that’s lurking around.’ You think this is going to disappear? No, there is a 400–year–old corpse just lying there. You know? So, [Ghost] came to my head. But…It became a movement. And that’s why I needed to make that a choreopoem; I wanted to experiment with writing a choreopoem. So, that was the perfect opportunity. But in general, music informs both for me. My approach to playwriting is a little bit more organized. When it comes to choreography, it’s more organic and loose and comes from feeling music. Playwriting comes from me sitting with characters and then organizing them.

Rachael
Got it. So, the choreography is a little more…a natural feeling. Do you record yourself when you’re doing it? How do you remember what you’ve done?

Sharece
That’s a very hard one because I don’t a lot of times. I record myself for the most part. Once I’ve set some movement, then I record it. I don’t record the process. I only record things I want to keep.

Rachael
Okay. So let me ask, as a writer, I assume that you also read.

Sharece
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Rachael
What kind of things do you read? What are you reading right now? What’s been your favorite book to read, something that you always go back to?

Sharece
You know, it’s interesting. I read lot of non-fiction stuff. See, this year has been a humongous blur because of COVID. So, I feel like I haven’t really sat down with a good book in like a year.

Rachael
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sharece
The last time I read something, it was The Element. I forgot who it was by. But, it’s like, a self-help, manifestation, kind of book. I’m really into the non-fiction stuff. I don’t read much fiction. If I read fiction, it’s a short story or something like that, that I find online. Yeah. That’s pretty much it.

Rachael
Five years from now, when you look back on Ghost, what is the response that you are hoping this particular choreopoem elicits? I know we talked about the growth of the poem and where you want to see it go. But, five years from now, when you look back, what is the response that you want to hear?

Sharece
I want that piece to be discussed in corporate and policy settings. I want that piece to be something where people are like, you know, genuine and serious about wanting to effect change…having full discussions and presentations on this piece. That’s what I would like to see, because there’s always a lot of talk. There’s what people want to say that sounds nice or whatever, so that they can continue to get their funding. I mean: we need it. [But,] if people are serious about social justice, if they’re serious about effecting change, especially when it comes to the lives of Black and brown people, this piece is one of those ways of talking about it; being willing to open the wound and talk about it.

Rachael
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sharece
I’m hoping it gets to that point.

Rachael
What are some things that you learned while writing this piece? After writing it? As creative people, while you’re in it, there’s so much that you want from it, but then when you look back on it, you’re like, “Oh…”

Sharece
Right. Do you mean content wise or artistically?

Rachael
Both.

Sharece
Content wise, I think it’s interesting how it lands on other people. Yeah. I think it’s interesting how it lands on other people. I’ve had some mixed responses. There was actually an individual who thought that the piece was not productive. I guess that’s the best way to put it. It didn’t sound optimistic at the end. Like…it didn’t have a hopeful ending. And I thought that was a really interesting observation, not to discredit how they interpreted it. But I’m thinking, “That’s interesting. Now, why did you interpret it like that?”

Rachael
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sharece
You know? I want to know why. Because, no, it didn’t intend to have a hopeful ending. It’s just saying, this is what is. What we do after that is up to you. You know? And so, for them to have that response said a lot to me about what some people will feel when they see it. If they even get through seeing the whole thing; they may not. And that’s what that told me, too. Also, how other directors interpret the piece is very different. And I’m curious to see what other people would do with it. The performance that was done by that college student was very different from the piece that we did with The Play Writers. So, yeah. I’d be curious to see how that plays out.

Rachael
I think art in art communities performs much different than it performs for the general public.

Sharece
Yeah.

Rachael
The critical lens is different. You know?

Sharece
Yeah, exactly. We can pick something apart and not leave offended, for the most part. Right? Especially playwrights and directors. We can pick things apart. You put it in a different arena: everybody’s offended.

Rachael
They’re waiting on a happy ending and…

Sharece
Yeah.

Rachael
It wasn’t what we’re talking about.

Sharece
That wasn’t this piece. This was a rip the Band-Aid off piece. It hurts. We got to look at what’s underneath the Band-Aid.

Rachael Berry

Rachael Berry is a writer and public relations professional based in Miami, Florida. She recently received her Master of Arts from the University of Miami.