Kate Hawkes is the Founder and Artistic/Executive Director of The Well Arts Institute.
Kate is responsible for overseeing the Well Arts Institute and for
Performing Wellness. She facilitates the four month writing/rehearsal
process and produces the work for the public. She also conducts “play”
workshops in writing for support groups, for those in the medical profession,
and for others. Kate is available as a personal coach, an arts consultant, and as a
workshop facilitator, using theatre and writing. Kate is Adjunct Faculty at the
Linfield Main campus and the Linfield College-Good Samaritan Nursing School. She
is the playwright of the currently touring Composers In Skirts, and recently had a
public reading of her new play Sky...Diamonds. She has directed at theatres in Portland
and for Linfield and also appeared on stage.
Creating with these writers is the heart of her soul work and feeds, and is fed by, all other work she does. Thank you for the gifts, the opportunity and the love.
DIRECTOR'S NOTES
As facilitator, director, and Well Arts Founder, I am writing director's notes for the 7th Performing Wellness. My feelings are as always, a mixture of humble pride, wonder, and intense gratitude for the gifts I have received. A second group of courageous Veterans, both women and men, both first-hand and by association, have been willing to take the difficult journey to uncover, discover and share their stories with me, with each other, with actors and now with you, the audience. In the last 5 + months we have labored, laughed, cried and created. These stories are for so many: the writers themselves, other veterans and their families, and ultimately for the community we all are. Healing requires that the stories are told and just as importantly that they are heard truly heard, with open hearts, suspended judgment and with compassion. The details make each story real, the truth in the particulars make it a story for and about us all. Ultimately the effects of trauma become a shared experience. We are therefore all a part of the story. None are immune to the consequences, none can escape their role in the story.We do not presume to tell everyone's story, we do not expect to heal all the wounded, but we do believe that we can open doors to real dialogue and as such real community. In this evening's journey we are not interested in the why-fors and where-fors - that is a different story - but we know that we each need an opportunity to sit together and acknowledge the gifts and responsibility of being a community.
Thank you to the actors who so willingly embraced the world of each writer, for no reason or reward except that they cared enough to do so and knew the gifts inherent in that caring. Thank you to all those behind the scenes who brought their skills and commitment to this project. Thank you to the writers who so boldly opened their world to us. Thank you to you, the audience, who came to hear and be part of the ever expanding community. Take with you the gifts laid before you, do with them what you need and most of all, tell your story and listen to the stories of those around you.
Be well.
