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Sherry Dilling has loved the message and style of the play, “My Left Breast,” since her days at Juniata College in Huntingdon. But after watching a longtime friend fight and survive breast cancer, she became even more determined to bring the play to a local stage.
Dilling will perform the one-woman, one-act play, presented by Things Unseen Theatre, on Jan. 22 and 23 at the Church in the Middle of the Block Cultural Center near downtown Altoona.
“I love the strong female character and poetic style, as well as the message of hope,” said the Martinsburg native. “I’m glad to finally be bringing the script to the stage.”
Dilling said the play is autobiographical, having been written more than 20 years ago by Susan Miller, an Obie-award-winning playwright when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Obies are awarded to Off-Broadway plays.
Miller wrote “My Left Breast” about her battle with cancer, as well as relationships, which won her a second Obie.
Miller describes herself in the play as a “one-breasted, menopausal, Jewish, bisexual lesbian mom.” Like so many of Things Unseen’s productions, the play is for mature audiences with strong language and themes.
“I’m very excited that Things Unseen offers a venue for important works that wouldn’t otherwise be seen in Altoona,” Dilling said. “After seeing several high quality performances there, I knew it would be the perfect venue for a one-woman show I’d always wanted to do.”
She was the narrator in Things Unseen’s “The Laramie Project” last year and approached co-artistic director Valerie Stratton about performing “My Left Breast.”
“It fits our general mission and the kinds of shows we like to do,” said Stratton, who had attempted to bring the show to her theater years ago. “It’s written very poetically. … And, given the impact of cancer on everybody in our lives, I think it will resonate with a lot of people.”
Dilling said the play is about breast cancer, but also about loss and love.
“Throughout the play, Susan compares the loss of an infant son and the loss of Franny, her partner of eight years, to the loss of her breast,” said Dilling, who still resides in her hometown with her 8-year-old son, Jacob.
Dilling said a high school friend was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2014 and underwent a double mastectomy.
“She has fought and won her battle, with courage and faith,” Dilling said. “Her diagnosis brought home to me the reality of breast cancer, and the bravery and grace with which she dealt with it inspired me to give voice to this play.”
Dilling said she believes Miller shares the emotional pain and identity issues resulting from breast cancer and mastectomies “in a powerful way. … She fearlessly uses brutal honesty and humor to share her experience.”
Dilling said this is her first one-person show and she never had breast cancer.
“Or menopause,” Dilling said. “I’m not Jewish, or a bisexual lesbian – ‘Not that there’s anything wrong with that!’- to quote Seinfeld. That challenge may have originally attracted me to this piece. I’ve never played a gay character before, but I see it as an opportunity to show that despite all of our differences, there is a shared human experience, in which I can better understand and relate to others, and myself. I think that is the beauty of theater.
“One of those commonalities, that I think most of us can relate to, whether we’re men or women, is obsessive love, and the loss of a relationship.”
Dilling and Stratton said the play is designed to promote efforts to fight breast cancer and issues surrounding it. Breast cancer patients and survivors are invited to participate in audience discussions following the play, Stratton said.
But she stressed that the play simply is not about the disease.
“She talks about raising her son, she has a relationship, she gradually discovers she is bisexual, or at least interested in other women,” Stratton said. “She talks about how it grew, how it ended. It deals with a lot more than just cancer.
“There’s a lot of humor. It’s not going to be a downer type of show.”
Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.