Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2021 - 23

INSPIRE
ENERGIZE
Marc Winski (left). | Photo courtesy Marc Winski. Adam Honoré (center). | Photo by Dallas Padoven. Audrey Hoo (right). | Photo by Kian Yan Law.
Inspire: Marc Winski
Hello, hello. It's so great to be here. And I
hope you are excited for the most inspirational,
dream fulfilling, five simple steps
to live your best, simplistic, Disney-fied
life that you've ever heard, and I'm here
to teach you how. Here's the only thing. I
don't have a tech crew, um, 'cause you're
all there and I'm here, and, um, this is
a tomato. (Pulls tomato off the end of a
metal straw being worn over the ear like
a prop microphone earpiece. Tosses tomato
into the air, catches it, eats it.)
So, you know what? I, um, I can't do
it this way anymore. (Removes straw and
headband.)
If you all came here to expect an inspirational
speech to m- motivate you to
keep going in pursuit of your dreams and
be there, then that's not what this is. Thithis
is real. This is tr- tr- truth. I'm an actor
and performer who stutters, and it's
taken me 30 years to, to, to say that exact
phrase.
So I'm here to speak my truth, tell my
story, and inspire you to speak your trutru-
truth as, as well.
M- m- uh, my name is M- Marc Winski,
and as you, you can already tell, I'm a
person who stutters. No, I didn't forget
my name. No, I- I- I- I know exactly what
I wanna say and how I wanna say it. Just
sometimes, it takes me a second longer
to say th- the, the things I wanna say.
Growing up, I had some really great
speech therapy. Growing up, I had a
speech therapist who told me, " It's okay
to stutter, and it is, it is not your fault. "
And I responded with, " It's not my
fault. "
And he would say, " Is it Mom's fault? "
" No, it's not Mom's fault. "
" Is it Dad's fault? "
" No, no, no, no, it's not Dad's fault. "
" I- is it your fault, M- Marc? "
" No, it's not my fault. "
And just to show you that I am telling
the truth, I have proof. Here.
(Cut to video:)
Off-camera speaker: " You know when
we get stuck with our bumpy speech? "
Marc Winski as a child: " Yeah. "
OCS: " Whose fault is it? "
Marc Winski as a child: " No one's. "
OCS: " Wow! You really are smart.
That's right. It's nobody's fault. Is it your
fault? "
Marc Winski: " No. "
OCS: " Is it Mom's fault? "
Marc Winski as a child: " No. "
OCS: " It's your dad's fault? "
Marc Winski as a child: " No. "
OCS: " You're absolutely right. You tell
me, it's not my fault!
Mom (off-camera): " I didn't hear that. "
Marc Winski as a child: " It's not my
fault. "
OCS: " Oh, louder, Marc! "
Marc Winski as a child: " It's not my
fault! "
OCS: " Let's just stick, just yelling. It's
not my fault! Can you do that? "
Marc Winski as a child: " It's not my
fault! "
(Return to stream.) Pretty cute kid,
if I don't say so myself. So, growing up,
I was getting these messages of, " oh,
M- M- Marc, it's okay to stutter. Be yourself.
It's not your fault. But also, maybe
don't, don't, don't talk that way. Maybe
try to t- t- talk differently. Maybe smooth
into your sentences or, or talk a different
way, " because that's what I was being
told through society. That's what I
was being told through television and
media. I wasn't being represented as an
artist. I wasn't being represented as a perper-
person who stutters. My community
wasn't being seen or heard, quite l- literally,
actually.
Growing up, it was so challenging
because I was getting these mixed messages.
So, know what, what, what I did? I
hid. I would circumnavigate my sentences.
I would change words. I would never
answer the phone. Heck, I didn't even
SUMMER 2021 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 23
INFORM
Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2021

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