a witness
in the near-darkness, a tent strung with lights sits beneath the twisting branches of evergreen trees
BREATHE IN… & out…
Tacoma, Washington, 2010, after the state passed Death With Dignity. Billie, a hospice nurse, begins working with Chuck, a woman in the final stages of ALS, as the anniversary of the death of Billie's brother, Kosmo, approaches. Chloe, a recently-sober addict who has returned to town after a year, tries to help Nathan, Kosmo's partner, navigate a spell of major depression as Des, a local artist, demands answers about her relationship with Nathan.
A play about connection, detachment, and the power of having a witness to your life.
developed with Inkwell Theatre 2021
characters
BILLIE uses she/her pronouns and is an Autistic end-of-life nurse in the midst of total burnout.
NATHAN (he/him) is also Autistic and also burned out, but he’s handling it in his own… unique way.
CHUCK is dying, and she’s not really dealing with that so well. In her 40s and isolated from the world, she’s trying to die better than she lived.
CHLOE uses she/her pronouns, and god bless her, she just can’t get anything right. She’s in that particular phase of her 20s where she has no idea who she is, so she’s grasping at straws.
DES, an installation artist who uses she/her pronouns, is trying to keep everything together, but she’s failing.