The Long Game

I went to a script reading tonight for my fellow solo performer, Barbara Brady. She’s an excellent writer and storyteller and is currently developing her second full length solo show. Readings are the last on-book performance before getting it memorized. And then the audience gives feedback and changes and tweaks are made to the script before finalizing it. Then the performer takes the show on the road to fringe festivals and what not, where the show gets reviewed (hopefully). And if they are good reviews – excellent! If not, then back to rewriting the script. Or sometimes the performer moves on and starts a new story. Lather, rinse, repeat.

No two stories are the same. Some take years to develop while other scripts are written quickly with a certain amount of success. For me, when it comes to writing, I play the long game. I am in no hurry to finish a script if I think important details require more research. I have dedicated 2025 to mainly research over performance. I had one show in February and will have a couple of more in June, but that’s all I have on the calendar.

Unless someone asks me to perform, and then all of a sudden, I’m available!

Acting!

A still from my last acting class.

Alright, time to decompress. Good night.

Monday, April 14, 2025:

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Go Big!

I’m still recovering from yesterday’s film shoot. I don’t have any pictures from it yet, so please enjoy these other ones from a different film shoot last year:

The first time I took a film acting class, I was in my twenties and was told that my facial expressions were “too big for camera“, which was very frustrating, because I never got that note when I did theatre. Obviously.

This made me feel very insecure in regard to film acting. I had read somewhere that actor Telly Savalas said “practice stillness” when working with the camera. I believe that is wonderful advice for the right moment and the right scene and I do want to get better at it. One time an acting teacher told me I should “put tape on my forehead so I could feel how much my face was moving“. As if being an animated person was a bad thing. When I was working on the movie, “Scream” as a stand-in for Neve Campbell, I would watch her through the monitors, and she was very still. I was standing next to the sound board and the engineer said into his walkie to the assistant director, “Tell Neve to speak up, I can barely hear her.” I was shocked that an actress, who was mic’d, still wasn’t loud enough for the sound engineer. It was like she was my complete opposite. I thought, hey maybe I can teach her how to project and she can teach me how to be still.

When I finally returned to theatre years later, my solo performance teacher told me to “get bigger and louder“. I had never gotten that note in all my years and I vowed to never let the film people make me so small again.

In other news, in my ongoing family tree research, of all the Donahoe clan (my last name) I believe my fourth-great-grandfather, James Donahoe, was the first to come to the U.S. from Ireland.

He arrived to America around 1795 and owned “1 Log House” in October 1798:

Oh, how I wish that log house was still standing.

Thursday, March 20, 2025:

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Generations

I have a confession to make.

I never understood how people were able to grip their phones with one hand to take a mirror selfie.

My hands are small, so I figured maybe my phone was too big to grip, but then a millennial on the set of a film I am working on, showed me how tonight.

If I had children, I would be up to date on everything. I need some Gen-Zers in my life. Without the younger generations around, it’s easy to stop paying attention to trends. That’s not always a bad thing, but I should have at least learned a long time ago that I only needed to grip the bottom of my phone between my pinky and fourth finger to take a mirror selfie.

Tonight, I worked on a student film for my acting class.

Me and Frannie showing Molly how to use a landline.

This is actually a thing with younger folks, and I totally get it. How many people grow up with landlines anymore?

I still have a push-button corded phone somewhere in my closet (as a prop), I wish I had kept our old rotary phone. Those were slow, but fun.

I’m exhausted. I gotta get ready for bed. Goodnight.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025:

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Acting!

Last night I had a show, and tonight I had acting class.

Tonight, we did some improv and read through a script. Improv always makes me a little nervous, but it’s so good for the soul.

As I dig through my family tree, I wonder if there were any other thespians in my family? My Great Grandma Katie did some modeling, but that’s about it.

Circa 1929 in Hollywood

Surely, we two can’t be the only ones!

Alright, two late nights in a row. I’m exhausted! Good night.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025:

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No Flash Photography!

I had a show tonight along with three other storytellers. I think it went well. However, one of the cardinal rules in the theatre is “no flash photography” while we are on stage, which quite frankly, really bums me out. I want people to snap all sort of pics while I’m on stage! That’s like free publicity.

Fortunately my friend and fellow performer, Irma Herrera, snapped some pics of our post-performance announcements, and by the looks of it, I was just as dramatic during our announcements as I was in my actual show.

STALK ME ONLINE! THERESADONAHOE.COM

Like seriously, what am I doing? I look like I’m dancing and while saying, “come check out my website!“

Although I am pretty good at taking pictures of cats and sunsets, I am lousy and taking pictures of people so I am grateful for Irma. She always remembers.

Mi Amiga

Alright, I’m exhausted. I will leave you with all the flash photography I took today.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025:

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