Writing & Producing
“Why are you like this?”
When I was twenty-nine, my parents sat on the edge of my bed and handed me an envelope. I knew what it was before I opened it. “I got it,” I said quietly. They cheered as if we had won the lottery.
I had just been declared legally disabled.
And it felt like the end of my world.
Was I being dramatic? Maybe, but I had no model for success as a chronically ill artist. I wrote to understand my experience and along the way, I met others with similar stories. The best way to amplify those voices was to add my own and create disabled stories told by disabled artists.
I write authentic stories that make people feel seen and heard.
My brothers would say this path was inevitable—they were regularly recruited to perform in the plays I wrote as a child. The work has improved since then, and I’ve also learned that red nail polish is a terrible substitute for stage makeup.
Z IS FOR ZEBRA
Katie Scarlett has crafted something remarkable here—a tightly executed, deeply personal, and often wickedly funny piece that finds its power not in spectacle, but in honesty.
— Kirk Sheppard, Off Book Cincinnati
If C is for courage,
then Z is for Zebra earns an A for honesty, humor, and heart.
— Alan Jozwiak, League of Cincinnati Theatres
My Writing
