Stage and Screen alum Mckensi Scy Pascall on the power of creativity, finding inspiration, and how the stipend she received from Cambridge Common Writers gave her the confidence she needed to believe in her story and keep writing.
MCKENSI SCY PASCALL – WSS, June 2024
MCKENSI SCY PASCALL is a multi-disciplinary writer and actress from Trinidad and Tobago. She writes modern and historical fictional stories with supernatural elements and strong themes of existentialism, reflection and exploration. She primarily writes screenplays, plays and songs, believes in genre bending and encourages herself to tell stories in whatever form they choose to come. Motivated by travel and communities past and present, she knows writing is a vessel of connection and empathy and can be an immense force against oppression. Mckensi recently received the CUNY Fellowship from the Public Theater, and is a Playwriting Teaching Artist at The Public Theater and a Community Assistant with Public Works.
Interview by Liz Shick
LS: You recently graduated from Lesley University’s MFA program in Creative Writing with a concentration in Writing for Stage and Screen. What are some of the most important takeaways from your time at Lesley? Is there any particular advice that you return to again and again?
MSP: I have a deep appreciation for the time that I nurtured my skills as a writer at Lesley. My personal community knew I was pursuing a Creative Writing MFA and gave me the space and support needed for me to make that the primary focus in my life. Prior to that, writing felt secondary, something I could do when I could spare some free time to do it, the MFA made me prioritize the time to write. The advice I return to is to be gentle with myself, it’s a constant reminder. We don’t all write the same, that’s what makes our singular voice unique. Someone else’s practice might not look like your practice, but it’s worth it to take the time and figure out what your practice is, and give it room to morph. I’m not a writer that believes you need to write everyday to call yourself a writer, you just need to remember to return to your craft.
Mckensi (R) with fellow Lesley alums Keshia Koech (L) and Graham Jones (C)
LS: Great advice–I couldn’t agree more. In what ways has your writing evolved since you graduated? How do you keep yourself engaged in the writing life now that the MFA deadlines and assignments have stopped?
MSP: At Lesley, I wrote with a mentor in mind and that played a factor in what I chose to write. I’m now fully independent with my choices. I no longer have that external eye critiquing my work while it’s still in its early stages. I don’t need to have an idea approved, I just go for it. And in that way, writing post-grad has been freeing. I do miss the care that the mentors gave to my work; having a thought partner during early stages that greatly affected the story. Without the formal structure of school, I write less, but I also don’t feel as much pressure. It’s okay for art to take time and not fall into an academic calendar. It’s okay for a story to exist without you writing it. I can spend a lot more time now in the idea phase. This is tricky, because spending too long there might make me abandon a project, when sometimes, my gut instinct on a story is right and I should just start writing.
Mckensi with Lesley Stage and Screen mentor, Jami Brandli
I started a lot of projects at Lesley that I didn’t finish, so the year-long period after graduation was mostly spent in phases of deep revision of different projects. My thesis was in its first draft phase when I graduated, and since then it’s gone through an extensive revision and submission process. A large part of the process now is beyond the writing and in the search to get a piece on stage or filmed. Stage and Screen is a bit different from the other tracks at Lesley because after the piece is written, it’s still not finished. The goal is to get it onto the stage or filmed, which usually takes an additional community of people to make the piece realized.
Still from Disposable Black Girlfriend, the film Mckensi wrote while working with their mentor Jami Brandli
LS: What first drew you to writing for stage and screen, and how has that pull changed over the years? Do you write in other genres as well?
MSP: I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and was always into film and theater. Costumes and performance were an integral part of my childhood, especially during Carnival time. As a tween, I read a lot of YA novels and attempted writing my own. After moving to America, I was drawn to writing plays in high school when I couldn’t find scenes that worked for my friends and me in our improv class. I journaled a lot to cope with the isolation I felt from moving and wrote a lot of short stories, entering contests. For undergrad, I got a BFA in Acting and was again underwhelmed by the material we were acting with in school, and wrote my own monologues. When the pandemic hit and our stage showcase became a short film, I wrote the film and acted it out. I knew at that point that I wanted to go back to school for writing. Having a seedling of an idea sprout into words on a page, and then a lived experience is a huge catharsis, and a reminder of the power of our thoughts and creativity.
A still from Mckensi’s Brooklyn College Acting Thesis, Blue Bruises
LS: What themes do you gravitate toward in your writing?
MSP: I gravitate toward writing themes of existentialism, systematic oppression, journeys and travel, colonization, Black and Indigenous American history, immigration, magic realism and stories of Black girls making their way in societies that are built to wear them down. I had a deep craving for stories like these growing up and rarely found stories where Black girls were centered. As I got older, it was heartbreaking realizing how violent, unjust and cruel this world is. It’s an act of power to choose to be a positive and creative beacon of light in the midst of all that. I believe that we all have purpose, it’s what keeps us going and stories of Black girls discovering and actualizing their purpose are deeply cathartic for me to read and write. As someone that dreams vividly, I love melding the elements of surrealism and magic into stories. It’s an element of this world that we’re constantly told to disconnect from and by weaving them into my stories, it reminds me that we are more than just the rigid rules of the society we exist in. Writing stories based in history is a great exercise of empathy, as it calls me to look backward beyond my own life and reckon with the pieces that are left for us to interpret. I’m a firm believer in the answers for the present and future lying in the past and I hope to keep interrogating that past.
Portrait of Mckensi taken by Kana AKA From a Photographer
LS: Beautifully said, thank you for sharing that. Can you tell us about your writing routine? Do you wait for inspiration, or make yourself write no matter what? Are there any writing-related or other rituals you like to do before you start writing?
MSP: Inspiration comes easy to me and not a day goes by where I’m not inspired, which is a real blessing. That said, sometimes that inspiration doesn’t translate into writing. I love making music, practicing yoga, and painting. I can get overwhelmed by which way to express the inspiration I’m feeling. Before I start writing, I like to make sure the space I’m writing in is clean and smells good. A candle, an incense, anything to set the mood for creativity, exploration and spirituality. The words we leave exist beyond our lives, and I want to write with intention.
Mckensi as part of an art exhibit by Heather Rose for the Long Island Museum
I love the warmer days, when I can handwrite in my journal outside, and sit in the quiet nature. Journaling is a great way to center myself and usually leads me to the conclusion that I should go create something. That feels good; a way to always access inspiration. I’ve been finding real joy in just writing down how I’m feeling on that day and what I did, capturing a moment of my life in writing. If I’m in the midst of a story, the writing will show up when and where it wants to, and if I have a laptop handy, a scene will be written. Currently, I’m in a stage of revision on multiple projects which can be tough; it can often feel like I’m not moving forward, but a gentle reminder, this is just part of the process.
Mckensi rehearsing outside for a play in Manhattan
LS: You recently received a grant from Cambridge Common Writers to hire actors for a staged reading of one of your plays at the Public Theater. Can you tell us more about that experience?
MSP: The experience was one that I am immensely grateful for. I could not have done it without Cambridge Common Writers and to be honest, I didn’t think about it until I saw the opportunity for the stipend. I’ve never applied for a grant or stipend before and previously, paid for my art out of pocket. I was in a Fellowship at The Public and once I was given the stipend, staff at The Public felt even more incentivized to make the reading happen. I had a time limit and everything came together beautifully, in a way that I know opened up possibilities for me. To bring my playwriting into The Public Theater with Cambridge Common Writers felt like, yes, I’m making the right steps and moves. I’ve just gotten my MFA and it’s only in the recent years that I started calling myself a writer. To have people see me do the thing that I say I am felt great.
The piece was previously done for Playlab at Lesley, and unfortunately, it was during a blizzard and some of the actors could not make it in person. The lead role in the play (about being in an interracial relationship) was written for a Black woman, and the actress cast was Latina. She and the other actors on Zoom did a phenomenal job, and I’m appreciative with the circumstances given. But redoing the piece with what I can only describe as a dream cast and an audience at The Public helped me to see the piece the way it was intended and gave me the confidence I needed to believe in this story and keep writing.
Photos from Mckensi’s staged reading of “Not for Your Consumption” at the Public Theatre
LS: Congratulations! What an amazing opportunity. Before we close, what advice do you have for those who have recently graduated from Lesley’s MFA program or are just starting their writing journey?
MSP: To the recent Lesley graduates, we share this MFA that never expires. I hope to be in community with you through CCW well beyond the two years of the program. This program didn’t make you a writer, you always were. You reached out to give yourself the time and resources to hone your skills and now you are a more experienced writer. Your writing will outlive you.
I think the state of academia, and this program at Lesley, is in dire condition and a lot of recent graduates dealt directly with the harm of it. Free yourself and your writing from the injustices that happened at Lesley. Take what you’ve learnt and leave what no longer serves you. For writers starting their writing journey, welcome! The stories you have to tell will always matter to someone and that first person should be you, so keep saying what your soul is saying needs to be said.
LS: Well said! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!
Mckensi returning to Prentiss House during one of Lesley’s winter residencies
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