This is a video of Poochie, my most recent play. It was shot on opening night — Oct. 19, 2011 — certainly a night I’ll never forget.
My mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, passed away at 2:30 am, just a few hours after this performance. I was with her. Squinting at my phone, I had just read Ed Norvell’s review of the play on the Salisbury Post website, and pecked out a short thank you note to Ed. Moments later, as I sat in the chair beside Mom’s bed, alone, I watched her breathing slow until she finally took her last breath.
We invent our contexts, and my context for this is that Mom — who was a great writer and my biggest fan and best teacher — was waiting for me to get a good review.
That next night, we added chairs, had a full house, and turned a few people away. Many of my dearest friends were there, supporting my play and consoling me. I dedicated the show to Mom. It was the best visitation a person could have.
Poochie is about a family dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease. This production ran in the black box theatre at The Looking Glass Artist Collective in Salisbury, NC, Oct. 19-22. Produced by Spoken Space Theatre.
Thanks to Jon Taylor for doing such a great job of shooting this. Run time is 1hr, 23 minutes.
And thanks to Justin Dionne for bringing an insightful, energetic poignancy to his directing — and to his amazing cast and production team for this awesome, production.
‘Poochie,’ opens next week. Spoken Space Theatre. In the black box at Looking Glass Artist Collective. 405 N. Lee St., Salisbury, NC Runs Wed. through Saturday, Oct. 19-22. Tickets $1o at the door.
This Yom Kippur, just a few hours before we pause for the Yizkor service and remember our loved ones who are no longer with us — I’m thinking of my father, of course — but also two men who impacted my life profoundly.
I was excited to see that, just this week, Justin Dionne, who will be directing Poochie, my new play, just got nominated for 9 MTA awards for his recent production of Almost Maine with St. Thomas Players.
St. Thomas Players is a small theatre troupe here in Salisbury. The MTA is the