A lot of people who I talked to about myself writing and directing ATUT told me that it was a pretty far fetched idea but being the person I am, I challenged myself and today am proud of what I have done so far. I've always dreamed about writing and directing my own production and finally, its here. I began writing short stories at a very young age and all of my stories were always mature for my age. They would talk about issues in the world that usually a kid wouldn't write about and even adults looked at as things that shouldn't be mentioned. Along with writing at a young age, I began doing musical theatre in 2001 at the age of six. Since the age of six, I knew that somewhere along the line, acting and dancing would forever be apart of my life. I have kept this promise to myself and as a way to remember that promise on my sixteenth birthday I got a tattoo that symbolizes my love for the stage.
I took my love for theatre and writing and combined them and decided to start writing musicals of my own. I began creating characters. Each character had their own issues in life. A young woman who was a victim of rape, a young man a victim of abuse, and a woman who was addicted to drugs and had a family she tried to take care of. These characters I created later became the characters in A Teens Unspoken Truth and forever a part of my life.
ATUT is going to forever be in my memory as the first show I ever written, directed, and produced and hopefully it will touch each individuals heart as it did mine.
Dray Cottingham
