by Barbare Sturua
“A Good Day to Me Not to You” is a solo play that premiered at Connelly Theater on November 8, 2023, and will run until December 9. Written and performed by award-winning Lameece Isaac and directed by two-time Abie Award-winner Lee Sunday Evans, the play celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Waterwell theater company.
It is an extraordinarily feminist play that tells the story of a middle-aged, middle-class, Middle-Eastern woman who grapples with questions about motherhood, loss, societal expectations, and gender roles. The narrative takes the audience on a journey with a woman in her 40s, formerly a dental lab technician, who loses her job and temporarily moves into St. Agnes Residence, an affordable housing option for women.
The protagonist experiences the loss of her sister, leading her on a path of grief and becoming a maternal figure for her young nephew. Wrapped up in concerns about her career and others’ well-being, she neglects her own aspirations of starting a family until it’s too late.
The play is a satire that mocks modern society’s hypocrisy toward women: the pressure to avoid immaturity while avoiding aging, the conflicting messages about sex and childbirth. The narrator begins to question her fertility, and a doctor’s remark, “You still have eggs, but those eggs are in a wheelchair?” serves as a glimmer of hope. Society often neglects discussions around female traumas and experiences. Infertility can be as traumatic and grief-stricken as losing someone, causing shock, anxiety, depression, frustration, and even shame and guilt in women.
In the play’s closure, despite the character being left alone as her brother-in-law and nephew move to California, she finds herself in the courtyard of her housing establishment, gazing at a “weeping mulberry” tree. This melancholic scene leaves us with a symbol of faith and strength.
A Good Day to Me Not to You – written and performed by Lameece Issaq, directed by Lee Sunday Evans, presented through special arrangement with Plate Spinner Productions
The set design by Peiyi Wont, sound by Mextly Couzin, costumes by Jian Jung, and sound by Avi Amon
Through December 16. TICKETS
