Author’s Note

Author’s Note

Megan Shepard and Jabari Woods are fictional characters, and all details about them, and about the crime, are my own invention, but this play was inspired by actual events. About ten years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing a woman in the same situation as Megan Shepard, and it was the only time in my work as a journalist that I came close to crying during an interview. I covered a similar story several years later in Chicago, and after that I began reading books and articles about other cases, of which there are far too many. The situation depicted in this show may seem hard to believe, but unfortunately, it is very real.