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Nothing could have prepared me for this process. The challenge of it, the exhilaration of it, the connection I found, and witnessed with this incredible, resilient, and dedicated company of artists.

We had our first rehearsal on September 14^th and met each other with curiosity, vulnerability, full, open hearts, and not a single strand of an idea of what this play was going to be.

So we began with questions.

How do you feel today? What is a hardship you're going through? A moment of joy? What do you miss about the theatre? What do you miss about life before the pandemic? Is it possible to find a connection through our screens?

Slowly a structure began to reveal itself. Slowly. And as we worked together these past seven weeks, devising, creating, improvising, and developing this project, it became clear to me that this was in many ways a play about capturing the act of collective creation in a time of unprecedented isolation. About finding connection and community. About honoring the difficulties of this new virtual medium and turning every challenge into an opportunity. About listening to each other and laughing together. Supporting one another.

As I'm writing this we're about two weeks away from opening night and are still hard at work revising and rehearsing. The cast is getting new drafts every day and rolling with all the punches. We're adding songs. Getting closer every day.

I'm indescribably grateful to Wesley Savick for his guidance and encouragement as I began this process, to Kathy Wittman for making the impossible possible, to Scott Nicholas for coming to our aid at the 11^th hour, and to the incredible stage management, design, production, and administrative teams for their support, agility, and flexibility as we journeyed together through the unchartered territory of developing a new show for Zoom in seven weeks with twenty-five actors, some who live in other countries.

It has been an immense pleasure returning to Suffolk for this, and it heartens me to no end to see that the theatre department has retained all the magic it held for me when I first arrived as a student there 20 years ago.

And finally thank you, for being with us tonight and for joining us as we embark on this grand experiment together.