Stonecoast Review
The Literary Journal of the Stonecoast MFA
Staff Spotlight
Allexa Gallant
Alexa Gallant is a writer from Augusta, Maine. She graduated with her B.A. in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College in 2021. Her plays have been produced by the Maine Playwrights Festival, One-Minute Play Festival, Maine Arts Academy, and the Polyphonic Theatre Ensemble. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
What do you write?
For the last few years, I’ve been focusing on writing plays, but I also write fiction. I love exploring themes of memory in my work.
Is there an author or artist who has most profoundly influenced your work?
I think my answer to this question probably changes weekly; there are so many artists who have inspired me. Right now I would say Sarah Ruhl. Many of her plays are very surreal, but the emotional journeys within them are relatable and cathartic.
Why did you choose Stonecoast for your MFA?
A few professors I worked with in undergrad recommended Stonecoast and I heard that the program allowed freedom to explore multiple genres.
What is your favorite Stonecoast memory?
Returning to residency after having to take a couple of semesters off. Everyone was so welcoming!
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I want to read more, write more, and continue collaborating with lots of creative people.
If you could have written one book, story, or poem that already exists, which would you choose?
Probably Ellen McLaughlin’s collection of Greek plays. I first read them in high school, and they played a big part in inspiring me to continue writing for the stage.
The following is a monologue from a full-length play in progress. The play takes place at a zoo where the speaker, Elaina, is a veterinarian.
ELAINA
We used to have two Guam Kingfishers. Kept behind the scenes, of course, in a concrete building with a silent alarm and barbed wire all around it. They’re extinct. In the wild. Happened after brown tree snakes were accidentally introduced to Guam by the military sometime after World War II. They wiped out the kingfishers. There are a few still left in captivity. Ours were part of the species survival program. It seemed to be going okay, but they didn’t like each other. The keepers were watching them. But… They can be aggressive. The female hurt the male. Badly. They brought him in. But he was… Battered. And I had to make the call to humanely euthanize…
(Pause. Suddenly with great meaning.)
I held him here. Like this.
(Elaina opens her hands as though holding a small bird.)
And I just wanted… I just thought, for just a moment, that he would fly away. He didn’t. Of course. That sad, broken body was limp in my hands. Except the eyes were open. Open and bright. Flicking around. You wouldn’t know he was in pain at all. I don’t think he would have wanted to die. But…It wasn’t his choice. One of the last of his kind, and I made that choice. His genetics might have saved his species, but I…
(A long pause. She drops her hands.)
The whole thing looks quite peaceful. Tension melting away. But it doesn’t feel that way. Not when you know that tension is life. It’s incredibly violent. Strange how a needle becomes a knife when used… When used to take the life of one of the last creatures of its kind who lived thousands of years before I did. Looking into his eyes in the last moments… It felt like looking God in the eye. I mean… It felt like… I imagine… It felt like how God might feel, looking us in the eye. I finished the procedure. You wouldn’t believe that a body so beautiful, bright orange and blue, was dead. But it was. Because of me. And once I went home, I prayed. For over an hour, I sat on my kitchen floor and prayed to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Mourning, yes. But also… Thankful. Because I imagine it can’t feel good. To look at us. And make all the decisions He makes, right as they might be.
