FROM MTC’S NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

At the end of her life, as I rubbed her aching feet, my grandmother (the only one I knew), told me that she regretted not having done more. “I wanted to be a private detective,” she said, “or a spy.” This was a woman who spent a good portion of her adult life religiously entering contests that won her international travel, a cameo as a clown in the circus, print bylines, as well as cars for herself and most members of her immediate family. This was also a woman born in the 1920’s, married as a teenager, and responsible for raising four children across four decades. For women like her, regret was a product of sacrifice under circumstances in which sacrifice was a product of expectation.

Since she died, I’ve often wondered how I could skirt regret in my final days as I look back upon a biography that from here, is at best, half written. Sometimes I wonder about my own mother’s regrets and whether I have grown enough to forgive the things that I think she should lament.

When I feel pulled into that kind of thinking or begin to imagine some resolution to my ruminations, I try to look back at my history as though it were a play. I breathe deeply and remind myself that:

Theatre at its best shows us people as they are (or were), not as they ought to be.

Theatre at its best asks us not to judge, but to observe, for judgment does not serve understanding.

Theatre at its best paints a portrait rather than holding up a mirror, and if we see ourselves in the stories on stage, it is through similarities rather than reflections.

Dragon Lady is theatre at its best: free of judgment, a sometimes sad and beautiful portrait full of humor and understanding. Thank you for being here and carrying the weight of your own history through our doors. I invite you to put down your burden here in the dark, breathe deeply, and observe the profound impact of a grandmother on a grandchild.

Mabuhay!

Marin Theatre Company Board Of Directors

Matthew Purdon President

Josh Rafner Vice President

Barbara Roberts Treasurer

Wendy Feng Secretary

Naima Dean

Kipp Delbyck

Doug Frazier

Denmo Ibrahim

Jennifer McEvoy

Vera Meislin

Stacy Scott

Tara Sullivan

Rev. Floyd Thompkins

Penny Wright