Love Letters: A True-Ly Short Epistolary Romance

UHeights Theatre Alliance member, Theater of Possibility,  presents Love Letters: A True-Ly Short Epistolary Romance (Giving Voice to Autistic Nonspeakers)

Performances run June 15th thru' 17th at 7:30 PM, and on Sun, June 18th at 1PM, please pick the date you'd like to attend.

A play by Sofia Ghassaei

plus original songs

Directed by Lauren Goldman Marshall

Music Direction by Ian Williams

Two autistic nonspeakers, Melody and Luke, fall in love via email, only to struggle with sensory realities when they meet in person. Love Letters is a universal story of first love - found and lost – and of expectations not matching reality.

Songs by autistic nonspeakers add layers and textures. 

With lyrics by Caden Rainey; Elizabeth Bonker & Sean Coleman; Damon Kirsebom; Danny Whitty; Imane Boukaila; Sofia Ghassaei & the Saturday Speller Social; Tyler Mason; Wyatt Dutton; Zac Duncan.

Music by Ben Radecki; Brian Laidlaw; Dan Beer; Ian Williams; Sean Coleman & the Bleeding Hearts; Tom Tolnay.

Performed by a professional cast: Cammi Smith, Drew Combs, Juliette Jones, Matthew Reyes & Nathaniel Lee.

Running time estimate: 65-75 minutes (no intermission).

Neurodiverse audiences are welcome to all performances. Sunday’s performance will be followed by a talkback with members of the artistic team.

Please note: We will be videotaping the performance on June 17 & 18.

Please do not attend if you have been exposed to COVID, have COVID, or any symptoms.

Masks are optional.

Tickets are pay-what-you-can: free, $5, $10, $15 or $20. If you cannot attend in person, please consider purchasing one or more tickets as a donation to TOP, and we will be sure to notify you when the edited film version is available!

About the playwright:

Sofia Ghassaei’s poems and writings have been published in Teen Creative magazine, Neuroclastic, and presented at the Boards and Chords Music Festival, Neurolyrical Cafe, and SpellX.   Her first play, Words Unheard, was performed by Theater of Possibility in 2022 as part of Sound Theatre’s Gaslight Project. She is one of five writers internationally selected for the 2022-23 Lynx Amplify Project, which pairs autistic poets with composers to set their words to music.  Due to severe apraxia, Sofia uses a letterboard to communicate.

About Theater of Possibility:

Theater of Possibility (“TOP”) brings the community back into professional theater. Since 2010, TOP has run drama programs for kids, teens and young adults with autism and other (dis)abilities, as well as typically-developing peers. When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theaters and in-person teaching, TOP turned its attention to innovative new ways to create theater. TOP partnered with Hearts: Health & Arts to create a semi-virtual film of Pamela Gerke’s new musical Nightingale, about Florence Nightingale, and produced an Equity production and film version of Lauren Goldman Marshall’s and Roger Ames’ musical Abraham’s Land, which tells a story of hope set in Israel and Palestine during the First Intifada. TOP has presented works by autistic writers at the Seattle Intersections Festival and Sound Theatre’s Gaslight Project, among other venues. TOP celebrates human potential and offers a vision of a more just and inclusive world!

For more information contact, admin@theaterofpossibility.com or visit http://www.laurenmarshall.com/TheaterOfPossibility.htm