Confessions of a Well-meaning Man

Confessions of a Well-Meaning Man is a mash-up investigation into religious hypocrisy filled with broad, nonsensical humor and an incisive critique of the human condition.

The text is both dense and buoyant—it’s a mystery, it’s a confession, and it's full of one surprise after another! In film noirs, the 'confession' is often only a minor element, it's the story of the past that drives the plot. Loosely inspired by the film noir genre, we broke from the norm to spotlight the confession live and in real-time.

In its original form as a mostly stationary zoom play, the story's strength as a humorous piece of writing was carried primarily by our actor's talent as a skilled oral linguist. He sat still and played with words. On set, he reveled in the chance to come to life physically. His whole instrument was now capturable on camera; we could experience how he lived his story through his relationships with the world around him.

It was challenging to adapt this monologue to film. I wanted to honor the intimacy and inherent stillness of the original piece. When we had the space and the means to play more expansively on set, I shifted back and forth from focusing on the big picture to all the details within each section of the story. I had to hold on tight to what I knew to be the beginning, the middle, and the end to tell a clear, compelling, and entertaining story.

It was a joy to work with my collaborators to keep that intimacy and to find new ways to capture stillness, play with motion, explore the space, and introduce new relationships to the camera.