A virus gave me connection. I made more new friends, acquaintances and colleagues during a pandemic than I had done in thirty years. It’s kind of crazy sounding but, I met more like-minded people — both in terms of friendship and artistic colleagues as well — on the “ZOOM-Y Box”, as I like to call it, while stuck in my home, like we all were, for over a year. Who woulda thunk? 

Thanks to Roland Tec and my best friend of forty years, Suze Allen, during a global pandemic, I routinely worked with, enjoyed the works of, and studied with, writers and theatre artists from around the entire globe. What a gift! I have not felt such true community in years. In the intimate spaces of Roland’s brilliantly conceived HEARMEOUT Monologues, Some1Speaking events and in Suze’s delightful Memoir Church — as well as in both writing coach’s classes — I found stunning artists I had never heard of. And, they discovered me.

It is in Roland’s creation that I first “met” both the extraordinarily talented Lisa Barnes and the fabulous Carl Palmer — both hugely successful professional actors whose work can be seen on stage and film, and, at Roland’s HEARMEOUT website where you can experience some of the tastiest monologues — written to be performed on ZOOM — that you will ever be tickled to enjoy. If you are dubious of how a writer and actor can create something riveting on ZOOM, I challenge you to give it a look. The works to be found there, by such a diverse group of writers and actors, are wildly varied and tremendous.

When Suze learned of, then read, Roland’s beautiful, haunting play, What We Get To Keep, she knew instantly that she wanted to direct it and knew, too, exactly the actors she wanted to cast. Lucky me.

Roland and Suze gathered the three of us together — again, on ZOOM — Lisa in Hawaii, New York or Philly, depending, and Carl, often on “Swamp Time” as he calls it, down in New Orleans, New York, LA, or, wherever the work takes him. I’m in Maine, where artists go to escape. To live.

The night we did a First Read online of What We Get To Keep was magical, kismet. We all connected. It felt right. Fortunately, it felt so for Roland and Suze, too. The ball got rolling, the producer people busied themselves — are still busy! — and we have dates at the St. Lawrence Arts venue in Portland, Maine. A place of such fond performing memories for me. I am anxious to dig in, discover, uncover, work hard, create again, with these two actors, this director and writer and the entire talented team. If we all do our jobs, we will bring Roland’s gorgeous, poignant and heart-rending piece to living color life.