In 2009 I was cast as Caitlin O'Hare in "Over The River and Through The Woods" at the Rose Theatre alongside Dawn Wells (the actress who played Maryann in "Gilligan's Island"). This was a touching play about the love between grandparents and their grandkids, the traditions that keep families together and push them apart, and the generational expressions of love and how they evolve and change.
It's interesting that I was reminded of this show because this week my Grandma passed away. Thinking back on the show and it's subject matter, I see how lovely this piece is in the American theatre cannon, and how I view the subjectivity a little more tenderly thinking about how one of the ways my Grandma used to show her love for us all was in the special dishes and treats she regularly prepare for us, and how that was likely a generational expression of love she developed having lived through the Great Depression and WW2.
Dawn Wells passed away a couple of years ago. I hope that if she runs into my Grandma up there in heaven or whatever that they can share a laugh and a meal, as they were both kind, generous, and loving women.
