The world premiere of a new play by Dayton playwright Makayla Baker Paxton, featuring the music of several rock bands, will take place this weekend at Asbury United Methodist Church.
The autobiographical play, “WHEN I WAS,” which is a dialogue between Baker Paxton, 32, and her younger self, will be performed at the church at 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday evenings.
“It’s the story of my teenage self,” Baker Paxton said. “It covers my time growing up in West Virginia and being an emo teenager.”
Baker Paxton said that the play began as an essay. From there, she turned it into a one-person show and then, based on feedback, converted it into a two-person play.
Director Rachel Herrick of Timberville, a James Madison University graduate, said that the play is “an autobiographical story taken from MaKayla’s adolescent and teen years through the lens of emo music.”
Baker Paxton and Herrick know each other through the local theater community, and both completed an MFA in Theatre Arts through the University of Idaho.
In the play, Baker Paxton stars as her adult self, and Elizabeth Eby, another local actress and playwright, plays her younger self.
Baker Paxton and Eby, both Eastern Mennonite University graduates, met while doing a touring EMU production of “The Crucible” together in 2023. Baker Paxton played Deputy Governor Danforth in the play, and Eby played Elizabeth Proctor.
Eby said she likely got the role in this play because someone who recently saw her and Baker Paxton together said they look like sisters.
“She asked if I could play her younger self, and I said ‘yes,'” Eby said. “It’s been a fun experience.”
In real life, Eby, who plays 12 to 14-year-old Baker Paxton in the play, is 25.
One of the bands that significantly influenced Baker Paxton is My Chemical Romance, which Baker Paxton references in “WHEN I WAS.”
Baker Paxton said that the band was her first introduction to the emo world.
“They’re my favorite band of all time,” Baker Paxton said. “I’m actually going to go see them again in August. I’ve seen them now, it will be twice.”
Some other bands that influenced her were Hawthorne Heights and AC/DC.
Baker Paxton was introduced to My Chemical Romance by a friend in the early 2000s, when they were about to start sixth grade.
The musical element of the play is reflected not only in its themes but also in its structure.
“I guess I thought of how you burn CDs and how you have different tracks,” Baker Paxton said. “It’s kind of like a giant mix CD.”
Like a CD, the play is divided into tracks, and songs will be played between each “track” as well as before and after the show, Baker Paxton said.
“Music is being played that will add depth to the story,” Herrick said.
The play will incorporate the work of several local rock bands, with their permission.
“We reached out to a lot of local bands, so their music will be featured in the show as well,” Baker Paxton said.
One of the featured bands whose music may be familiar to those in the area is Engine Down. Baker Paxton said the band used to perform at Artful Dodger, a popular downtown Harrisonburg restaurant that closed in 2019. Broad Porch Coffee Co. is now located in that space. Music by other Virginia bands featured in the play includes Shagwüf, To Be a King, 14 £bs, and Red Weather, Baker Paxton said.
For Baker Paxton, the emo trend consisted of jagged hair, eyeliner, and a lot of emotion.
“Being an emo in the early 2000s was quite popular for a lot of teenagers,” Baker Paxton said.
While the music was something she enjoyed, it was something that she and her mother didn’t see eye to eye about, Baker Paxton said.
“My mom, you know, I was raised in a very conservative Christian home, and so my mom struggled with this, and so it was a battle between the two of us,” she said. “It’s a bit of my reflection on looking back on that time and realizing that my mom was just trying to do the best she could. There are a lot of themes of motherhood in it. There are themes of loving your younger self.”
In addition to motherhood, the play also explores Baker Paxton’s upbringing in Augusta, West Virginia.
“The play deals a lot with the struggles of growing up in a rural community as well as struggling with fitting in and self-harm and grappling with religious identity,” Herrick said. “It has a large breadth of topics that I think people can relate to.”
An earlier play written by Baker Paxton, “Convenient Season,” about two brothers, grief, and the opioid epidemic, was produced and performed by Harrisonburg-based Eunoia Theatre at a farm in Weyers Cave last summer.
One difference between this play and the last one is that Baker Paxton spent eight years writing “Convenient Season,” but this play she completed in less than six months.
Stephanie Wasta, chair of the Asbury Sacred Arts Committee, said that “WHEN I WAS” appealed to the committee, which regularly hosts artistic events at the church because the play focuses “on the author’s spiritual life, so some of her turmoil and challenges in her teenage years, and she’s reflecting on that. She was raised in a very conservative religious home, and she’s coming to terms with that. There are some mental health themes.”
The church believes in hosting artistic events, Wasta said.
“We believe in essence that the spirit inspires and stimulates us through the arts,” Wasta said. “Our congregation raises funds to support the artist, and then we can have these free performances, which we can then have a free will offering to support the community.”
Eby said she feels many people can relate to the play, even if they’re not into emo music.
“It expresses deep and dark emotions in a very honest way,” she said. “The overall message of the play is learning to love your younger and cringy self.”
Though emo music is considered to be dark, Baker Paxton said, “Now when I listen to that music, it heals a lot of that for me.”
The play will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in room 300 at Asbury United Methodist, located at 205 S. Main St., Harrisonburg. An optional talkback will be held after the play. Admission to the play is free, and any donations received during the performance will benefit the Community Counseling Center in Harrisonburg.
For more information about Asbury United Methodist Church, visit asburydowntown.org.
