While We're Home
TRANSPORT GROUP’S WEEKLY COLUMN SERIES
While We’re Home is a weekly newsletter series of essays reflecting on Transport Group’s 20-year history from our leadership, alumni artists, and friends. Filled with humorous insight, personal growth, creative struggles and successes, we hope these columns will stand as a testament to the joys found in the process of collaboration through our 20-year catalogue. Check back each week for a new installment.
Introducing while we’re home: extended cut
We are celebrating twenty years of producing theater with a new video series, “While We’re Home: Extended Cut,” based on our weekly essays written by our actors, writers, designers and other collaborators.
A new video installment featuring a different essay each month, the series will continue over the next year.
NEW! August 2021 features composer/librettist Nancy Shayne. You can read Nancy’s essay in full, “When Your Mother is a Character in Your Musical,” here.
July 2021 features director Kevin Paley. You can read Kevin’s essay in full, “Trusting the Unknown,” here. Click here to view the video.
June 2021 features actor David Lee Huynh. You can read David’s essay in full, “The First Time I spoke Vietnamese On Stage,” here. Click here to view the video.
May 2021’s installment features John Cariani and his essay, “Inge and the Search for Opportunity.” Click here to view the video.
SEPTEMBER 24
Telling Your Story to Heal
By Yvonne Adrian
Playwright Yvonne Adrian mines her soul and shares her family’s darkest moments to help find the light.
Early in our development, we had written a song titled “Write This” based on a real-life moment I had with my daughter. By this point, she was in bad shape and deteriorating fast. I told her we were checking her into the hospital. She said, “No, I won’t go!” I said we would call the police, have her arrested, and the police would take her to the hospital. She said, “I’m old enough to check myself out in 72 hours.” I responded with, “And I’ll check you in every 72 hours!” Her response, “You’re in my room, Mother.” My response, “If you don’t go to the hospital, you’ll die.” She screamed at me, “I don’t care!” “I screamed, “Fine! Then just tell me what you want written on your tombstone!” I ran out of her room and down the hall. In our show’s development, this is where I had to write what Polly (the daughter) might have then said to herself–what would her tombstone say? I knew she was frighted by being teased and bullied at school. She wanted so badly to fit in. She was a sweet, kind person, but treated unkindly. Never would she say hurtful things to others, even when they were mean to her. She had a good heart. I continued to write down all of these thoughts I imagined going through Polly’s mind in that moment and handed them to Cheryl
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