Feature: BLACKBERRY WINTER Offers a Theatrical Safe Haven

What does it mean to watch a parent suffer from an illness that there is no known cure for? What does it mean for someone who prides themselves on being capable and proactive to feel helpless and out of control? What does it mean, as an actress, to navigate these emotions and deliver them to an audience almost entirely by yourself, for ninety minutes, six times a week?

Blackberry Winter focuses on a middle-aged woman who receives a letter from her mother's assisted living facility. Throughout the almost one-woman show, she talks through memories of the past, conditions of the present, and predictions for the future, all while avoiding opening the looming envelope. Some memories are comedic, some painful, but all completely human. To even begin to wrap my non-actor brain around attacking a piece of this magnitude gave me a severe headache, so I was over the moon to have the opportunity to chat with Suzanne O'Donnell, who plays Vivienne, about what she did to prepare for this project.

As any intelligent, humble actor would, Suzanne immediately praises the words of playwright Steve Yockey, saying that the emotional arc is simply a reflection of the text. She adds that this piece is unique and important because it shines a spotlight not on the victims of the disease, but rather on the unsung heroes that are the caregivers. "The playwright takes us on a journey of courage and acceptance," Suzanne explains. "The focus is on those moments when you receive information that shakes your world. [The audience] follows Vivienne through a myriad of emotions and her reluctant fear of what will happen once she opens the letter."

Suzanne then highlights Michael Dove's direction, and credits him with creating an atmosphere that enables an independent product to be produced, despite him having directed the show before in Washington D.C.. "I kept saying to him 'Just tell me what to do!'" she joked, "but he was so insistent on creating an organic process." His gentle and trusting directing style has ensured a safe space for creation and discovery.

When asked about technique and emotional endurance, Suzanne chuckled, took a deep breath and said, "It's always humbling to have a project like this." She comments on the "finished product" of a show, and says that, if everyone working on it has done their job, it looks effortless. This production has taught her that there simply aren't any shortcuts for an actor to inhabit this role and do so in a way that's authentic, compelling, and most important, human. "I have to be disciplined - I'm always brought back to that. Especially [when] attacking something like this," she reflected. "It sort of reinvigorated my respect for this work - this HARD work."

So, why see Blackberry Winter? If you're like me, your natural reaction to a work such as this would be concern that its content is a little too specific to be relevant. Will this piece touch me the way the playwright intended it to? Will I find new compassion and empathy within myself? If I haven't dealt with the topics this character has, will I be able to connect with her? I wasn't too convinced, but Suzanne added a poignant statement that forced me to climb up out of my mental rabbit hole: "We as humans all have the same pool of emotions. The focus of the piece is on a woman who prides herself on being so capable, so together, such a giver, such a proactive person, and then the thing she can't control comes crashing in. That's something that's universal to each person." So, you don't in fact have to be a caregiver to an elderly parent in order to find refuge in Blackberry Winter. No matter your own memories of the past, conditions of the present, or predictions of the future, Suzanne affirms that this show creates a safe place to be vulnerable, to "unmasque ourselves, and let go."

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