Condemned to a Life is a darkly comedic solo show with puppets. It begins with a letter I wrote to the judge at my brother’s sentencing asking him to see not only the crime, but the complicated human being who committed it.

The show explores two siblings shaped by abuse, trauma, and the belief that they would never amount to much. As adults, both struggled to find their footing. After surviving a traumatic brain injury, I found myself navigating grief, addiction, and the challenge of rebuilding a life I no longer recognized. My brother’s path led him deeper into mental illness, addiction, and eventually incarceration.

Through puppetry, humor, and compassion,Condemned to a Life examines guilt, responsibility, redemption, and worth. It explores what happens when the people we love cause harm and how families continue forward in the aftermath.

In the wake of trauma, grief, and life-altering mistakes, everyone receives a sentence of some kind. Condemned to a Life asks who gets condemned, who gets redeemed, and what becomes of those left standing.

I am raising $8,000 to help fund the Chicago premiere of Condemned to a Life, including puppet construction, puppeteering, rehearsal labor, directing, production design, music and sound, marketing, wardrobe, and other essential expenses.

Chicago premiere: August 13, 20, and 27, 2026 at 9:00 PM
de Maat Studio Theatre
230 W. North Ave., Piper’s Alley, Chicago
Tickets: www.secondcity.com
Box office: 312-337-3992

The production has also been accepted into the United Solo Festival in New York City and will perform at Theater Row on October 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM.
Tickets: United Solo

 

Puppets allow us to ask difficult questions without fear. These abstract and oftentimes fuzzy creatures can challenge us, surprise us, and tell the truth in ways that people sometimes cannot. They create space for humor, vulnerability, and honesty.

In Condemned to a Life, puppets help explore questions that do not have easy answers. And they do so with compassion, helping us see ourselves in a different light.

I’m a Chicago-based actress, journalist, writer, improviser, puppeteer, and traumatic brain injury survivor. I make work that uses humor to explore difficult questions and create space for conversations people often avoid.

As a performer, I am drawn to stories about resilience and the messy contradictions of being human. My improvised puppet show, Conversations We Can’t Have, has been performed in Chicago, New York, and internationally at IMPRO Amsterdam. The show invites audience members to speak through puppets to anyone—or anything—they cannot talk to in real life: a lost loved one, an ex, a parent, a dog, or even a fire alarm.

As a journalist, I worked as an executive editor at Everyday Health and news editor at CBS News. I have spent more than fifteen years helping people make sense of complex topics, particularly those related to health, brain injury, and invisible illness. My work has appeared in Scientific American, Discover, Newsweek, The Week, Crain’s Chicago Business, and other national publications. 

Whether I am reporting a story, teaching improv, or performing on stage, I am interested in the same thing: how people make meaning out of difficult experiences. Condemned to a Life brings together many of the questions that have shaped my life and work—questions about trauma, redemption, family, and what it means to be seen as fully human.

This show grew out of questions I have been wrestling with for years.

Why do some people find a path forward after trauma while others do not? Why are some people offered second chances while others become defined by their worst moments? How do we continue loving people who have caused harm? What responsibility do we have to see the humanity in people whose lives have gone terribly wrong?

These questions are personal for me.

I survived a traumatic brain injury at sixteen that changed the course of my life. Recovery shaped not only who I became, but also the work I would later pursue as a journalist covering brain health and chronic illness. 

The show is rooted in my family’s experience with trauma, addiction, mental illness, incarceration, and survival. While Condemned to a Life draws from my own story, I hope it resonates with anyone who has ever been shaped by pain, shame, diagnosis, family history, or a label they did not choose. My hope is that the show opens space for more honest conversations about who gets compassion, who gets second chances, and how we learn to see one another more fully.

If you are unable to donate, sharing this campaign is also tremendously helpful. Please pass it along to anyone who cares about theater, puppetry, mental health, brain injury, addiction, family trauma, criminal justice, or stories that make difficult conversations possible.

Thank you for your support.