The Miracle of Washing Dishes

Performances were held nightly at 8 pm. Viewings of accompanying photography, pottery, and audio cassette interview exhibition were held before performances and by appointment.

From the Playwright

1984. Late nights on The Circle with Rod and Isabella. Talking about being alive. Isabella had just got a hold of Thich Nhat Hanh’s essay, “The Miracle of Being Awake” and read aloud the section about washing dishes…if we’re truly alive, then even this most mundane task can be a joyful experience. Yeah. The essay lived in both our heads for a number of years. I began thinking about a theatre piece in which characters confront their lives while washing dishes. Then I began seeing women on the walls and voices, lots of voices. In the meantime, Isabella had created Kathleen. The City of Austin said yes. Jill, Danna. Deah, Mary Lou, Mary, Jimy, Mrs. Crusemann, Mrs. Daniels, Buckner Hightower said yes. Yes. To Life!

Playwright Lindsey Lane wrote Tinnie, DogTails, The Last Wall, and The Miracle of Washing Dishes in the last year. She got up every morning at 4 a.m. to write them and washed dishes before she sat down at the computer.

Director Jimy Gunn is a master theater sound technician who dealt with paper plates.

Actress Mary Agen Cox has appeared on stages all over Austin. “I’m still waiting for the dish fairy to come rescue me,” she claimed.