Two Mothers Speak: Memoirs of a Passion

TWO MOTHERS SPEAK:  MEMOIRS OF A PASSION  is a two-person play based on a novella that local author (and my house-mate) Judy McKenzie wrote based on her experiences (and those she interviewed) adopting an african-american baby into an inter-racial family.  Semi-autobiographical, moving, thought-provoking.  The issues raised in the play are prescient even today:  race, adoption, mental illness.  This is an important play, and will hit the boards at LCC's Blue Door Theatre this summer.

I feel so honored to be a part of this production.  I worked hard on the adaptation (at the time, someone else was slated to play the role of Agnes, the adoptive mother) - five drafts total.  And now that I am slated to play Agnes, opposite the new talent of Samira Lobby, and directed by my best friend Katie McClatchey, I am even more honored.  We have an amazing all-female tech team with Mollie Clevidence as our tech and Sarah Etherton as our SM.  This is one of the goals of Found Space Theatre - women having opportunities to do what they love in theatre.

There is no set.  Only a few furniture pieces will be utilized.  Each actress is responsible for her own props and costume changes, made on-stage.  This is bare-bones theatre, but that only adds to the intensity of the play.  A run time of 90 minutes (with intermission).  A challenge every actor embraces.  A short amount of time to make sure that the message of the play gets to the audience, and in such a way that audience will go home discussing the play.  And the line-load....woah.

It is beyond important to me personally to see this production mounted.  It will be my first full-length play in well over a year.  I will perform in honor of my sister, as always, but also in honor of Judy, who lived through many (but not all) of the events that take place in the play.  It will also be a fund-raiser for Found Space Theatre.  This is the only production we will mount this season, and will spend the rest of the season grant-writing and fund raising so that we can have a full season of 4 plays in 2014/2015.

And that season will offer even more opportunities for women to hit the boards and express their passion in whatever way is important to them.  We will also have several shows that include men (as we like men and don't want to exclude them!).  The Board is so excited about this new venture - and we cannot wait to share our vision with you.

And yes, we need money.  So once again, I post the link here to our on-line fund raiser at Indiegogo.com.  We need your help.  Please, whatever you can donate, even if it is only $1, donate!  We have 14 days left on our campaign.  Help us bring a new voice to the Eugene Theatre Community.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/two-mothers-speak

Thank you for your support.  We need you now more than ever.

~Emily