Miriam Feder
…and why should I listen to her?
I’ve found my passion in weaving words and emotions into pieces that help us remember who we are and where we come from. I love to put these words to paper, whisper them into your ear and release them from the stage.
I was always into theatre—at least since I starred in The Snow Girl with Theatre 65 in Evanston at age 10. I took a BA in Theatre Arts at the University of Minnesota, but somehow I forgot to go DO it when I graduated; chalk it up to a profound fear of waitressing. Somehow, Dad convinced me that law school beckoned, or was that an advanced practicum in the theater of the absurd. (Yes, I really did practice. No, it was not like Perry Mason. As for the phrase “recovering lawyer…” some conditions you just learn to live with.)
A decade or so ago I started to feel the pull back towards the greasepaint, first writing plays for young people, directing them and then directing the West Coast Premiere of The Orphan Queen. I got to sing and even dance in The Really Big Dance Company’s Pirate Show. The Vestibule: life, love and tears through the midlife lens, my first one-woman show, debuted in October 2007 and toured New Mexico in the Spring of 2008. About Love: the bittersweet heart opened in February of 2008. (This is also available as a gift book.) Big Words was my Fall 2008 show.
Now after a rousing premiere production of The Only Way Out is Through, part of Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival of New Works, January 2010, I’m looking for theatres who want to produce this timely fun show. I was thrilled with the reception it got here in Portland and I know it would suit so many theatres and communities. After all, it’s about women in midlife (not hot flashes–really us–marriage, divorce, kids, aspirations, disappointments, layoff, the future) and ya’ know–we’re the ones who go to the theatre.)
My new play is called Ephemory. I’ve just received partial funding for a production, so if you’re in the PDX area, look for a reading at Fertile Ground in January and a production in the Spring. It’s about bequeathing our stories, memory, legacy, aging and…
I also direct and accompany my original musical productions with student actors (In Portland and Even To The Western Ocean.)
Pretty much everything else about me emerges in the work. I’m very interested in performing these pieces or customized portions of them for your fundraisers and to tour the shows. Be in touch.