The Marsh Unveils Lineup for SOLO ARTS HEAL Series

The Marsh brings people from all walks of life - from a writer battling the most aggressive form of brain cancer and a doctor diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, to a grad student's race to write herself into a happier future, and a husband's struggle with his wife's terminal illness - to share their deeply personal journeys in the MarshStream Solo Arts Heal series. This Wednesday series, which features performance excerpts, talkbacks, and Q&A with Dr. Annie Brewster and Caroline Wright (Jan. 20), Hope Singsen (Jan. 27), and Samuel A. Simon (Feb. 3), will be hosted by Gail Schickele. For more information, the public may visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream.

7:30pm, Wednesday, January 20

Hosted by Gail Schickele

Dr. Annie Brewster and Caroline Wright join Schickele for an exclusive Health Story Collaborative episode, focusing on how to handle the challenges of illness through storytelling. Brewster is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a practicing Internist at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. She is also a patient diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Since 2010, Brewster has been collecting and sharing patient stories. In 2013, she founded Health Story Collaborative, a non-profit organization committed to empowering patients and their loved ones, building community, strengthening patient-provider connections, and ultimately transforming healthcare through storytelling. On the other hand, Wright is a writer and mother of two sons, ages five and eight, who is living with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Wright was given a life expectancy of one year when she was diagnosed in 2017. One of Wright's children's books, Lasting Love, discusses the possibility of her death with the following message: "whether or not mommy's body survives, my love is permanent and will shape them forever."

7:30pm, Wednesday, January 27

Hosted by Gail Schickele

Actress Hope Singsen performs an excerpt of her work SKIN, which explores the creativity and courage it takes to heal. In this frank and funny work, two things threaten a grad student's dissertation on Virginia Woolf: her hot new girlfriend and the echoes of her own dark past. As the grad student races to write herself into a happier future, her creative and sex life both get inventive. Singsen is an NYC artist, activist, researcher, and the Founder, Artistic Director, and Host of the first-ever #HealMeToo Festival and podcast. After the performance, Singsen joins Schickele for a post-performance Q&A.

7:30pm, Wednesday, February 3

Hosted by Gail Schickele

Last seen at the MarshStream International Solo Festival in October 2020, Samuel A. Simon returns to perform excerpts of his award-winning play, The Actual Dance. Told through the eyes and heart of a husband struggling with his wife's losing battle to breast cancer, this work amplifies what "love" really means, providing a universal, life-affirming lesson of hope and faith. Simon was one of the original lawyers for Ralph Nader in 1970. Now a DC Public Affairs professional, he has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Face The Nation. Simon has trained in improv under Gary Austin, Jeffrey Sweet, and Carol Fox Prescott. After his performance, Simon Will join Schickele for a post-performance Q&A.

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