Playwright Rajiv Joseph says the idea for his play, Gruesome Playground Injuries, emerged from a conversation with a life-long friend.

“I hadn’t had any idea about the amount of injuries he had gone through. As he was telling me about all these injuries at different stages of his life, I thought, man, you could write a memoir and every chapter could be an injury. And then I thought of how injuries could chart an experience, a relationship, a lifetime,” says Joseph.

That conversation led him to write the story about Doug and Kayleen. The play explores why people hurt themselves to gain someone else’s love or affection.

“It’s more like a prism of memory that is disjointed and connected through something that is not necessarily time, but emotion, sensation and pain,” he  explains.

The play delves into issues of self-harm, bullying, depression, pain, eating disorders and dysfunctional family dynamics. He was mystified by the idea that injuries could be the framework for a unique and episodic story about pain, love and regret.

“Each and every episode between them is an opportunity for healing, but not without conflict and the vulnerable reveal of deeply personal and painful truths. Revealing this ‘stuff’ is terrifying. It is alienating and in some cultures, taboo. However, if these issues are addressed, we start to understand that what makes us ‘alien’ also makes us ‘belong’ and human, what makes us vulnerable also makes us strong, what makes us damaged can make us whole,” says Joseph.

Joseph is of mixed racial descent. Having his fit dipped in two cultural experiences has shaped his understanding of alienation and his sense of belonging.

Through Kayleen and Doug`s many painful chapters in life - where at times they feel separate and at times they feel whole - they are bound to each other by love. He hopes viewers will ask the question: how do we heal? He also hopes this will inspire viewers to love, no matter how scary it may be.

Gruesome Playground Injuries is part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s Dramatic Works Series.

For more information about the Vancouver Fringe Festival, visit http://www.vancouverfringe.com/