ANIMAL opens Wed. November 21 and plays until Sunday 25.  For all dates/times/theatre location and tickets, visist HERE.   The above photo is with me and the cast after a tech rehearsal.  I’m relieved to arrive and share this moment with them as this has been a journey to get the play onto the stage.   It has been a learning experience for me, as well, of letting go and letting others make ANIMAL their very own.  After many years of working on the script, it’s not the easiest thing to hand it over to others.  But, like a child who leaves home, my baby has grown up and I need to step aside.

When the play went into rehearsals, I barely got involved as I really wanted to give the cast/director their freedom.  As a playwright sometimes you feel left out of the process, or being part of the family.  Writing can be a lonely act (which I don’t mind), and you’re often looking on from a distance.   While looking, I cheered this ANIMAL family on.   This cast:  Alexandra Milne, David Planche, Spencer Streichert, Pat Pariselli, and Craig Martin, along with director Evelyn Long, AD Lucy Collingwood and Stage Manager Leslie Ann Walcott, were on my thoughts.  Every day that passed and we neared opening night, I hoped the very best for all of them as they work to bring this beast of a play to life. Well, opening night has arrived and now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the show.

Thank you Alumnae Theatre, the Fireworks Festival, producers Molly Thom and Liz Best who provided this opportunity to give ANIMAL the platform that I feel not only it needed, but deserved.

To every dreamer out there, stick with what you love.  You never know where it will take you.  Embrace the disappointments, the highs and lows.  Don’t be afraid.   My hope is this production of ANIMAL opens more roads, more opportunities and of course, more writing.

I’m looking forward to seeing audiences reaction to this play dealing in an unapologetic way the trials and tribulations of mental illness.  Finally, a local paper in my area did a piece on me, the play, and my mother who was the reason ANIMAL was written.

This is a photo of my mom’s infectious/goofy nature as my brother was snapping pictures of us.  This woman has suffered, but she knows joy.  And she said to me the other day that despite what she’s been through, she takes comfort in the fact that maybe through her pain,  ANIMAL will help others understand and empathize with the struggle.   Take a read of the article, North York Playwright Tackles Mental Illness.  And come see the show!