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  • Home
  • About
    • Books
      • Book Events
      • Earth Day: Call for Submissions 2021
      • From the Cottage Porch: An Anthology
      • The Writing Spiral
      • Sunshine in a Jar Press
      • Other Publications
    • Reiki
    • Schools
  • Arts
    • Morning Letters
    • Paintings
    • Photography
    • Stage
      • Playwright
        • Hunt Week
        • Once Upon a Rocking Chair
      • Theatre and Music
  • Blog
  • Creativity Coaching
    • Creativity Workshop
      • Eight Learning Spirals for Writing and Life
        • Creativity & Process Spiral
        • Honesty & Courage Spiral
        • Solitude & Self-Awareness Spiral
        • Community & Connection Spiral
        • Ambition & Audience Spiral
        • Perseverance & Diligence Spiral
        • Curiosity & Adventure Spiral
        • Love & Energy Spiral
  • Home & Family
    • Family History Stories
    • Georgian Bay Roots
    • Memoirs
    • Northumberland
  • Poet Laureate
    • Poetry Present
      • Archive of Poets
      • Submit a Poem
    • Poetry Invites
    • Poetry for Occasions
    • Poet Laureate Gallery
  • Once Upon a Rocking Chair

    What I Loved Most About The Process of Staging My Play

    August 15, 2017 /

    What a whirlwind! I still wonder how it all went by so quickly. Directing “Once Upon a Rocking Chair” for Northumberland Players this year was definitely a lifetime highlight for me. We had a wonderful review in the local paper and 10/11 performances were SOLD OUT. When I started the process a year ago my wishes for the show were to have fun, to make a story people remembered, and to connect to people.

    Read More

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    Two World Premieres

    September 3, 2007

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair: A Playwright’s Journey

    February 8, 2017

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair Debuts in Northumberland

    May 26, 2016
  • Once Upon a Rocking Chair

    All About the 2017 Production of “Once Upon a Rocking Chair” in Cobourg

    April 29, 2017 /

    About the performance dates and tickets: Click Here

     The De La Roche women have an annual summer Georgian Bay tradition. Three retired sisters and their three grown daughters spend a week at the cottage drinking wine, reminiscing, and making plans for the future. But this summer is different. Deep-rooted secrets are revealed as the annual festivities become ones that nobody will ever forget. It is a play about family, relationships, work, aging, life, and the validity of ‘happily-ever-after.’

    Read More

    You May Also Like

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair Debuts in Northumberland

    May 26, 2016

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair: A Playwright’s Journey

    February 8, 2017

    What I Loved Most About The Process of Staging My Play

    August 15, 2017
  • Once Upon a Rocking Chair

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair: A Playwright’s Journey

    February 8, 2017 /

    I had forgotten how thrilling it is to be a playwright. Here is an update of the journey so far:

    Read More

    You May Also Like

    Two World Premieres

    September 3, 2007

    What I Loved Most About The Process of Staging My Play

    August 15, 2017

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair Debuts in Northumberland

    May 26, 2016
  • Once Upon a Rocking Chair

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair Debuts in Northumberland

    May 26, 2016 /

    I’m thrilled that Northumberland Players has added my play to their upcoming season. Once Upon a Rocking Chair has been staged once before, having a successful run with StoneCircle Theatre in Pickering Village in 2008. Since then my writing has improved, my life experience has expanded so I am taking this opportunity to update the script, strengthen the play and present an updated, refreshed version of the story that goes deeper into the play’s themes. I’m excited to share this story and these characters with my community.

    Read More

    You May Also Like

    Two World Premieres

    September 3, 2007

    All About the 2017 Production of “Once Upon a Rocking Chair” in Cobourg

    April 29, 2017

    What I Loved Most About The Process of Staging My Play

    August 15, 2017
  • Once Upon a Rocking Chair

    StoneCircle will have the house rocking’ (2008)

    February 25, 2008 /

    Monday, February 25, 2008

    By Mike Ruta, DurhamRegion.com 

    AJAX — Jessica Outram’s first full-length play is a family affair in more ways than one. Not only are the six female characters in ‘Once Upon a Rocking Chair’ related, they are drawn from real people the Whitby playwright turns into character archetypes.The play is set at a cottage in the small Ontario town of Britt, located about one hour south of Parry Sound. Three sisters and their daughters are spending a weekend at the cottage preparing a birthday bash for Aunt Flo.

    “The idea for this play is actually inspired by a family tradition we have,” Outram says. “Mothers, aunts, cousins go up to the cottage for a girls’ weekend. I remember sitting there (on one of those weekends) thinking, ‘ we have a lot of these strong, wonderful women, archetypes of different types of women.”

    Read More

    You May Also Like

    Two World Premieres

    September 3, 2007

    All About the 2017 Production of “Once Upon a Rocking Chair” in Cobourg

    April 29, 2017

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair: A Playwright’s Journey

    February 8, 2017
  • Once Upon a Rocking Chair

    Two World Premieres

    September 3, 2007 /

    August 16, 2007 Press Release from StoneCircle Theatre

    StoneCircle presents a season of all Canadian theatre plus their innovative new play development evening.

    StoneCircle’s season opens November 1st with That Summer by David French. Poignant, touching; it is a time of awakening, discovery, innocence, heartbreak. A meditation of what endures of fleeting moments over time. When it comes to playwriting, David French is perhaps… the most celebrated in English Canada. – Globe & Mail

    Read More

    You May Also Like

    What I Loved Most About The Process of Staging My Play

    August 15, 2017

    Once Upon a Rocking Chair Debuts in Northumberland

    May 26, 2016

    All About the 2017 Production of “Once Upon a Rocking Chair” in Cobourg

    April 29, 2017

Hello! I’m Jessica. This is my personal blog with a range of posts from stories about my ancestors to thoughts on life to ideas about creativity and community.

I help people find creative abundance by teaching how we can learn from everything around us, especially nature.

I hope that by visiting you will find something that’s helpful. I’m so glad you’re here.

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