21 New Messages

In this intimate piece, a woman returns to her mother’s home to pack and clean – and discovers a trove of unheard messages on an old telephone answering machine. In a unique twist, it's audience members who read the messages aloud, becoming storytellers to the actor onstage. As the messages "play," they reveal glimpses of the woman and her mother’s life and their complicated bond, and the woman is forced to confront her own patterns and choices. A poignant exploration of generational echoes and emotional inheritance, the show premiered at Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival in April 2025.