Writer and director Clinnesha D. Sibley is bringing a new holiday production to McComb on December 6—Love in the Layover, a Christmas-season play set in the most unlikely of places: an airport full of strangers.
But the story didn’t start with travel or Christmas at all. It began with a question: When did we stop paying attention to each other?
“I started writing this play a couple of years ago,” Sibley says. “It grew out of this reflection on how disconnected we’ve become—how we call ourselves connected because of our phones, but we’re not really present.”
For her, the script was born from a deep longing for genuine human presence, the kind we used to feel instinctively. “There was a time when you could sense when you were ‘entertaining angels unaware.’ Your spirit was open. You were paying attention,” she explains. “Now, with all the scrolling and notifications, we don’t notice those sacred encounters as much.”
Setting the story at Christmastime only sharpened that contrast. The holidays are supposed to be reflective and slow, yet for many, they’re the most rushed and distracted weeks of the year. “Putting these characters in an airport at Christmas amplified everything I wanted to explore,” she says.
That theme of presence and awareness ties directly back to Sibley’s work with the Southwest Mississippi Multiplex for Early Innovative Intervention Studies (SMMEIIS), the institute she leads in McComb. “At SMMEIIS, we teach compassion, empathy, and awareness; those are the foundations of everything we do,” she says. “When you sit in the audience for Love in the Layover, your role isn’t passive. You’re practicing the very things we talk about with our students: slowing down, observing people with an open heart, and giving grace.”
The play puts viewers in close contact with its characters, creating what Sibley calls “a moment of shared emotional intelligence.” In her words, “The audience becomes a student of compassion throughout the show. And that’s exactly the kind of learning community we’re building in McComb.”
Though the plot follows a warm, cozy, Hallmark-inspired structure, many of the characters’ personalities and moments are pulled from everyday people. “I pull from folks all the time—the way people talk, the humor, the tender moments you see in real life,” she says.
And what does she hope people take from it?
“I hope they walk out with full hearts,” she says without hesitation. “I hope they feel joy, hope, and a renewed belief that good things can find you. Even when you’re stuck. Even when life reroutes your plans.”
One of her greatest joys has been watching the actors bring the script to life. “Seeing the cast grow, discover moments, and make the story their own—it’s the best part,” she says. It also marks a milestone for EMERGE Theatre Group, which is gaining momentum under her nonprofit. “This is only our second show this business year, and seeing how audiences are responding… it feels like confirmation that we’re building something special and needed in McComb.”
More than anything, Sibley hopes the play becomes a spark.
“I hope it starts conversations about love, grace, forgiveness, and slowing down long enough to notice the people right in front of you,” she says. “We’re all going through something, and this play reminds us to choose compassion. I hope it encourages folks to reconnect — with themselves, with their families, and with their community.
Show Information
December 5 & 6 • 7 PM
State Theater, McComb, Mississippi
General Tickets: $30
Student Tickets: $12
Tickets available at EMERGE – Southwest Mississippi Multiplex for Early Innovative Intervention Studies
