Hello from my last day in the cosmos!
For the past 2 weeks, I’ve had the great joy to perform in a developmental workshop of a TYA (theatre for young audiences) stage show about family, friendship, unity, and loads about outer space. Contrasting my usual M.O., I play the villain–the leader of the Ice Aliens–and boy is she fun! I can’t say much more about this project story-wise, but I can (and will gladly) tell you what a special experience this has been.
Anyone who’s done theatre before can tell you that the process of putting up a show usually means lots of time, energy, late nights, early mornings, homework, and more. And this one is no different, except for the fact that we had just 11 days to work on it before sharing it with audiences. It’s a hefty task to bring our characters and our spectators to space. And to do it twice in one day like we did yesterday was exhausting!
And yet, there has been such happiness in this project. What an absolute privilege to help mold a brand new character on the page and on the stage, to meet new & wonderful creative people, and to go to work and play hard with them for 2 crazy weeks.
Perhaps the sweetest bit of it all is the message of connection and togetherness and humanity that really runs through the entire show. It’s been heartening amidst this terrible and beautiful world to support a story that so intrinsically believes in the power of working together, pursuing peace, and accessing empathy. Even with the bad guys!
It’s quite common to feel connected to loved ones in an intangible yet emotional or spiritual way; but what about with people we don’t know, or don’t agree with? Can we extend our love to them too? At the very least, I hope we can try. After all, we’re looking up at the same sun, the same moon, and the same stars.
