When I was in high school, studying Shakespeare in AP English Lit, our teacher would quiz us on who said which lines from the play we were reading. This was an impossible task in my eye. To study, my Dad suggested we "act" the plays out in our living room. I can see his face as clear as day, smiling, laughing, pretending to be serious as we ping ponged the Scottish play back and forth. It is one of my favorite memories with him. For the first time, I saw poetry in action. Years later, I fell in love with theatre - the ensemble, the language, the lives embodied on the stage; and like many others, it felt like a vocation I needed to pursue. Unfortunately, my Dad passed away before I came to this realization, and he was never able to experience my work first hand. I have been drawn to intimate stories of family, friendship, grief, and love ever since, and this is how I approach my work - in the hopes of "holding the mirror up to nature" as Hamlet would say.