When a Woodland School Board Trustee called being transgender a “social contagion” during a PRIDE resolution at a school board meeting, the backlash was instant.

Parents started a recall movement. The trustee eventually resigned.

Story’s not over, though, because this kind of headline leaves a heavy wake.

The Davis Repertory Theatre works to produce accessible, affordable theater that makes an impact in the community. Members want to create a more equitable society through their work, tackling local topics—even the scary ones—to inspire audiences to do the same.

In partnership with the Hate-Free Together Campaign, Theatre members collected stories from the parents, teachers, activists, and community members who worked to recall WJUSD School Board Trustee Emily MacDonald. It’s a deeply personal story for many, and still a fresh wound. MacDonald resigned in March.

Kayla Girdner sat down with Davis Repertory Theatre co-founders Oona Hatton and Lucas Hatton to talk about As We Recall.

What event inspired As We Recall?

On June 15th, 2023, at a Woodland Joint Unified School Board meeting, in which a resolution in honor of Pride was read, Trustee Emily MacDonald read a statement calling being trans a “social contagion.” This ultimately prompted a bunch of local Woodland residents to come together and begin the recall process. In the end they succeeded in recalling that school board member.

When did you know that you wanted to make As We Recall?

The campaign was on our radar because we did a little bit of volunteering for it. The leader of the campaign, Laura Brubaker, sent out an email to the SAY (Solidarity Action Yolo) listserv saying, “This is a really important moment in local history and local queer history and grassroots activist history. And it would be great to have it chronicled.” And because of the community engaged theater that we like to make, I think we were both immediately like, “Ooh, that sounds like a project for Davis Rep.” And it was in alignment with this partnership that we had recently embarked on with the city, county, and UC Davis supporting the Hate-Free Together campaign. So that was in some ways kind of miraculous.

How did you go about creating As We Recall?

The first thing we did was invite a cohort of Davis Rep friends and previous associates to be interviewers. Together we reviewed the history of what had happened, brainstormed, and honed a set of interview questions. What did we most want to know about the motivations and experiences of people who participated in the recall? We settled on 14 questions. Then our interviewers were paired with people who were involved with the campaign in some way. After we completed the interviews, we transcribed them, then we sat down and listened to each interview and read along with the transcripts. We began to highlight anything that we really liked. We weren’t sure when we started what the structure would be, but ultimately it became a chronology of the events. In the end we were just like, “Laura’s story has to be the spine of the whole play.” It’s hard. Once you feel the kind of pull of the narrative, it’s hard to stop that pull.

Did you struggle with anything during the process of making As We Recall?

Yes. One hundred percent. One of the struggles we had was, asking ourselves “Is this a project where we want to bridge differences or is this a project where we want to kind of celebrate a current success?” In the end we decided we’re not going to go interview Emily MacDonald. We’re not going to try to find people who voted against the recall. That would be another important project and definitely a next step in addressing hate in Yolo County. But we have to go one step at a time. And the first step is to come together within this, to honor and celebrate the work that happened among the community that made it happen. It’s really important to emphasize that this is not a play that’s written to persuade anyone. It starts with the assumption that we’re all on the same page, that gender inclusivity is a fundamental human right. So I think that has remained a central tenet of the work.

What can attendees expect out of this event?

When you arrive at the space, you’ll be given a script and you’ll be invited to either participate as a reader or to follow along. You don’t have to participate. You could just listen, but you are wholeheartedly invited to participate. And then after the reading, there will be a facilitated conversation where people can share their responses to what we read.

How did you choose this format for the performance?

One theme that comes up in the play is the idea that the face-to-face interaction was what led to the success of the recall. It’s people going out and having one-on-one conversations with people, overcoming their own fears and discovering their own power and place in the community. That’s very risky and tiring, no matter who you are. So we hope that people will take that risk and come to the play and feel like they’re rewarded. And if you don’t know the details of the story at all, you can come here to hear a great story of local history.

How can people see As We Recall?

We are hosting a community reading in Woodland on Friday, September 6th at 7p., and another in Davis on Saturday, September 14th at 2p. Anyone interested in attending can RSVP on our website to receive location information.