Love is in the air

Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey. --- Lord Byron

We love you...

It is hard to imagine we are almost one year into quarantine. During this time, we have baked bread, binged shows, bought online and begged for a break from the uncertainty and isolation. We have mourned the loss of people near and dear to us. We have struggled with the inability to gather in groups and create. We have Zoomed so much it is now a verb! In the midst of all that, it is often hard to focus on the future because the "now" is so urgent and real. However in the immortal words of Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding in Shawshank Redemption, we must, "get busy living or get busy dying." There will be an end to all of this. There will be a day we all sit in a dark room and watch as actors hold the mirror up to nature. Last month we wrote about our exciting new untitled Kafka project. The process of bringing this story to life has been invigorating! We are excited about the potential of this story. We are blessed and grateful to be working with Tamara Kissane, North Carolina’s Piedmont Laureate of 2020, on bringing this story to life. In less than one month, she has created 34 pages of a draft! Tamara will be the first to say, "this is all raw," but believe us when we say it is so exciting to see where it might be headed. We are also in discussion several local musicians about creating music for the show. It is all so exciting! It is a path forward. A path that is paved with Love! The story itself is one of love -- a young girl's love for her doll. It is also a story about adventure, loss, fear, and hope. Sounds like 2020 doesn't it? Thanks to you and your support we are able to commission this piece. By committing to this project we will be employing local artists and creating a truly home brewed experience! That is magical! Thanks to you we are able to get busy living! We love you all!

What is your story?

In our January letter we asked for you to share your stories. Several of you have responded and we have been moved to tears by your stories! Thank you for taking the time to share! It is so important that we engage the community by working WITH YOU to create this magical piece of theatre together. We would be grateful if you shared any stories you have of special childhood dolls or toys (and the adventures you had with them) or even places you fantasized about visiting as a child or now as an adult! Tell us your stories of love, loss, grief, and how your dolls or toys were your best friends and how loving them helped you to grow and evolve into a grown-up. How did that attachment inform your childhood? How did they accompany you on your journey to adulthood? If you could go back and talk to your younger self what would you say? If you could tell your favorite toy or doll about your life today, what you you tell them? How do these moments in your life reflect on the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and all that has happened to us this past year socially and politically? We can't wait to read your stories!!! Drink Deep! David and Susannah