String of Pearls

It would take four extraordinarily gifted actors to pull off Michelle's original concept (it is an actor's piece after all, and the true identity of the show is so tied into this quartet); but even expanding it to accommodate the 22 women who wanted to do the show, the acting challenge does not diminish in any way whatsoever.Pearls requires the kind of craft and experience that you don't usually find in university students or in the local acting community. Having said, that's exactly why I took it on. Great connected storytelling with unique characterizations in unexpected circumstances made for a challenging and welcome process.

Professor Ralph Small, Thorneloe at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Michele Lowe was intentionally vague about the casting for the play. She believed that the characters could take on unique lives through the talents of the actresses involved. By focusing on the language and not the size, shape, color or age of the actresses, we are free to see ourselves and all the women we know. There is a fifth performer in String of PearlsÑthe pearls themselves. They are the best friend. The cherished confidant who knows what we need even when we don't, who is by our side without judgment, whose presence transforms and elevates us and whose love is felt even long after they are gone. The pearls travel around the world and across several decades, threading onto its strand the lives of very different women who are redeemed, made whole and ultimately, are perfectly matched, like a string of "high luster, spherical, ros pearls."

Sherry Netherland, The Group Rep, North Hollywood, Calif.