The definition of solace is “to give comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.” It’s appropriate that a new play by that title is receiving its premier production in downtown New London this month. After more than a year and a half of the pandemic, and so much uncertainty still, the title perhaps resonates even more than playwright Michael Bradford originally intended.

Michael Bradford’s plays have been published and produced across the country as well as internationally. Now, his latest work, “Solace,” is being produced right here at home.

Before the pandemic, Bradford and Nathan Caron, another local professional theater artist, began forming the Emergent Theatre Project, with Caron slated to direct “Solace” for the company’s debut. As vaccinations started, plans for the production at the outdoor Hygienic Art Park continued. With Bradford’s award of a 2021 Artist Fellowship from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, their plans became solidified.

Bradford said he doesn’t consciously set out to address a personal or larger cultural issue with his plays; rather it happens unconsciously. Bradford believes people disengage from tropes, the common, perhaps cliched narratives in our society. The magic of playwriting is that it has the power to transform those tropes.

Bradford understands that he has lived in those tropes. “It’s good to deconstruct them, and that affects me personally.”

“Solace” was inspired by a trip Bradford took to East St. Louis, where the play is set. He was struck by how a single street could divide people, divide a neighborhood. He began thinking about the things that divide us and realized that he had the germ of a new play.

His hope is that the struggle that is part of the writing process leads to something beautiful that is deeply connected to the human experience.

“An individual story can destroy the tropes,” Bradford said. “When audiences connect with the play, it becomes their story. To be heard, to be seen, opens something up in people. It’s glorious when that happens.”

During these times with so much uncertainty and conflict, people seem to need Bradford’s theatrical storytelling more than ever.

“I’m not always deeply conscious of my art as healing; but the artistic practice of writing is part of who I am. I know that being an artist, keeps me together as a person.”

Emma Palzere-Rae is Associate Director for Artreach, Inc. and founder of Be Well Productions. If you have a story about how creativity has helped you heal, please contact emma.artreachheals@gmail.com.