Nadine W. Willig

Nadine Willig, an actress who has been a member of TAW for a dozen years, remembered when the subject of possibly performing the material came up.

"Some of us clutched," the Stratford resident said in a phone interview."It was very personal stuff."

Willig also commented on the strong bond that formed amongst the women in the workshop."I learned what it was like to have sisters," she said."There was a bit of arguing at the meetings, but we all learned to listen to each other and, in the end, to do what was best for the project."

That doesn't mean that, even at this stage, there is universal agreement about how the material should be presented.As Willig noted, "I don't want to wear black in the group," referring to the garb the actresses have worn at readings of the material."We all wear black with just a splash of color.I kind of thought we should dress more to our personalities but we're still wearing black."

There have also been discussions about how such sensitive work should be performed."On stage," Willig said, "we listen to each other perform our monologues and some of the gals still get moved."Willig paused to gather her thoughts."I've always felt," she continued," that when you are talking about something sad you shouldn't be doing it in a 'sad way,' you should do it in an upbeat way."

Whether the presentations are "sad" or "upbeat," they have certainly had an impact on the various audiences the group has done readings for.Willig commented on a reading they did in Trumbull.During the performance, she said, the audience didn't seem to be responding, but the silence was deceiving.There was a talk-back session after the performance, "and all of a sudden," Willig said, "the audience members started talking about their own experiences."Memories of the aroma of a favorite meal were voiced; one man who had lost his mother when he was 15 said that after hearing Momoirs he truly understood what he had missed.
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"Nadine (Willig) does this it's birth and death it's just she's holding her mother's hand when she dies.

Nadine Willig
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Nadine W.