FROM ANNIE BROWN (Book & Music)
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The main intentions behind the creation of Cooking With Butter? was to create a piece of theatre, music, and overall art that I wish I had growing up. This piece is a love letter to the identity journey as well as an ode to the fact that it is okay not to know who you are or how you love.
We live in a world reliant on labels and as human beings, we are continuously growing and changing... and that is alright!

I grew up in middle-America where conversation and education about the queer community and identity as a whole was incredibly limited due to that region's political and religious climate. Due to this, I was surrounded by countless stories of friends, acquaintances, and beyond who struggled to find identity. As our world and our society grows and evolves, so do our views and perspectives on these topics, but that by no means means that the oppression of rights and even discussion pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community is non-existent. 

In 2023 alone, over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures, Over 220 of which specifically target transgender and non-binary people. These are both record setting numbers. 
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So we believe that a piece of this content is needed now more than ever. A piece that encourages self expression while connecting with past, present, and future stories of not only queerness, but the struggle to find identity in all aspects. 

As someone who grew up, and was surrounded by others growing up, with a strong emotional attachment to music and the power of guidance and escape within it, this piece, and particularly it's format and potential reach, has become an absolute passion project.


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SOURCE MATERIAL
Inspired by a speech & debate original oratory speech surrounding Oklahoma's political climate during the 2020 presidential election, Cooking With Butter? analogizes the ingredients we choose to use to make our grilled cheese sandwiches as a symbol for how we view and consider the needs of opposing parties and groups in moments of political opposition. 

In speech & debate, an original oratory is a ten-minute, competitive speech written and delivered by the student with the intent to educate/persuade their audience regarding a topic of the student's choice. 

This speech is based on true events pertaining to the discovery of different ways to make grilled cheese sandwiches and the division that was caused. We were able to expand it into a full length musical piece while keeping a large portion of the speech's original text the same. 
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Though this musical piece is a work of fiction, it is important to us to keep the initial truth and passion that the original Grilled Cheese Theory speech obtained alive to keep truth and authenticity running through this piece.

The fictional storyline is a result of my experience and passions pertaining to this theme as well as conversations upon conversations with individuals sharing their experience with identity, queerness, and politics both in middle-America and far beyond. 

As we continue to grow and expand the piece as well as it's audience, my initial dream to create art that creates a safe place for those who have/are struggling with identity remains as we also try to broaden the perspective of individuals who may be unaware of this side of rising generations' experience.