Writing “Living Grace”
If you had told me a year ago that I would write a play in 6 weeks I would have laughed at you. I don’t think of myself as a writer. And a play? Come on, you need mad skills for that! Well, I would have been wrong. Working with the fabulous women’s group at […]
Dancing Grace
Sometimes grace feels a bit like a dance, like I’m trying to dodge it, but it just keeps coming. I see it dancing with someone else and I am moved. I draw grace towards me and, just as it gets close, I reject it. Perhaps that is actually the dance of unworthiness in all actuality. […]
Poldark, Lessons in Love
I love myself a good costume drama, in fact, I cannot wait to be in one myself! I did get to do a short years ago, corset and all, but that just whet the whistle. What do I love so much about the costume drama? I think it is that sense of honor that resonates […]
I Want to See You Be Brave
For my birthday this year my sister gave me a lovely bracelet that spells “Klahan” which means “Brave” in Khmer, the language of Cambodia. I’ve been really attached to the bracelet ever since, there is something about being able to wear “brave,” a reminder of stepping out and being courageous. When I sang with Cabaret […]
We Are Family
This season is all about gifts and true meaning and spirit and love and food and new beginnings and family. Ah, that loaded word, “family.” What do I mean by family? Yes, there are the people we grew up with, the ones we are related to, but to me family is something more than that. […]
Grace Needed, Grace Now
I may be a bit obsessed with grace. My name does mean “full of grace” after all, but maybe it is just because there is such a need for it. Grace can be a bit tricky to define and often carries with it a religious connotation, but for me grace is another word for love. […]
A Love Letter to Sarah Lancashire
Though I’m sure that I saw Sarah Lancashire over the years on Corry, she came fully to my attention with Happy Valley. What a strong, nuanced and full performance. I love characters that have multiple layers and Ms. Lancashire can play them with aplomb! I was completely on her side; even when she made horrendous […]
#WakingTheFeminists, Rekindling the Flame
I’m inspired, incited, and wowed by the movement that is underway in Irish theatre right now, #WakingTheFeminists. What gets me especially jazzed up about this movement as opposed to similar movements in the States (that I am also in support of, by the way) is that in Ireland change actually seems possible. The country is […]
Inspiring NEW Plays
This November the NEWvember New Plays Festival (which I co-produce) is celebrating its 5th year! Wow! In that time we’ve read thousands of plays and will be presenting our 30th new play reading this weekend (November 5-8). It is remarkable how much work goes into one weekend. Early in the year we go over the […]
The Families We Choose
Does anyone else crave family? I’m blessed to have been born into a pretty alright one, dysfunctional yes, but I have good relationships with my siblings and step-siblings and I love my parents. I feel loved and accepted (or at the very least tolerated) for who I am. I also married into another great family […]