←Recommendations of The Sister House

A beautiful story about working through the grief and learning to make the effort to connect rather than drown in it, deny it or resort to distractions. Well done.

Grief. It takes as many forms as there are humans: a father’s shirt, wallpaper scrapings, vampire (yes, a vampire), compulsive shopping, a claw-foot tub. Walker finds these small remembrances and combines them to show us it is the small things in relationships that build to love. With a crackling mother-daughter relationship, a fantasy life, and a new friendship, we are treated to how we cope. New beginnings are as tough as endings. But there is beauty in the trying. Walker gives us the beauty.

Authentic and effortless characters and dialogue drive this poignant yet funny portrayal of a mother and daughter coping with grief. It's a fun yet heartfelt exploration of a weighty story. I laughed and cried; hits all the notes. In particular, Walker's tender and complex rendering of a teenage girl in pain really resonates.

This authentic, fun and moving play drew me right in. Three distinctive female characters negotiate space, vulnerabilities and finances in an old house filled with memories. The dialogue shines! It brings out realistic battles between teens and adults and provides thought-provoking imagery and fantasy moments. A young soccer player next door, a father with some key bits of advice and a playful imaginary vampire round out the memorable roles.

Like much of Walker’s work, THE SISTER HOUSE finds the personal in the cultural so that any statement about who we are is intrinsically melded into the stakes of the story rather than it be a didactic message. Thus the three female characters in SISTER HOUSE illuminate how grief and loss can distort into self-harming if not allowed true expression, and how these wounds keep us from connecting with each other... until they don’t. However this play is not about that dysfunction; it's about love with laughs along the way. Oh, and… Mother-Daughter. Yes please. On stage NOW!!

A solid play about grief, motherhood, and the perils of lying to yourself. The strong female characters are so distinct and lovable despite their foibles of rage, oniomania, and secrecy. (The lovely Queen Anne house feels like a fourth female in the mix!) I also enjoyed the vampire: his plot twist was the most satisfying of all. Thanks for sharing this one!

This play was a SEMIFINALIST for the 2019-2020 In-Progress New Play Reading Series at Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. It is our pleasure to support THE SISTER HOUSE.