This autumn I had the joy of directing What’s Going to Happen to Us? as part of the OSO Theatre’s 2025 Writers’ Studio Showcase—a beautifully human piece written by Merry Graham and performed with remarkable tenderness by Nora Holmen and Alfredo Mudie Smart.
The play sits quietly at the intersection of love, uncertainty and the strange clarity that arrives when life throws a curveball. Two people, a long marriage and a hospital room—nothing flashy, but everything truthful. For me as a director, the real task was creating a space where silence carried weight, glances spoke paragraphs and the characters could sit vulnerably in their own questions: What do we hold on to? What do we let go of? And who do we become when the familiar starts shifting under our feet?
Working with Nora and Alfredo was a genuine gift. They brought emotional intelligence, humour and an honesty that made rehearsals feel less like blocking scenes and more like unearthing something already living beneath the page. There were moments when we rehearsed a single breath, a small hand gesture, or the way one character sits just an inch closer—tiny choices that ended up feeling seismic.
Showcase nights at the OSO always have that delightful energy of discovery: new writing finding its voice, actors taking creative risks and audiences leaning in a little further than usual. To be part of that environment is equal parts invigorating and humbling. You’re reminded how fragile and powerful storytelling can be when it’s kept intimate and personal.
I’m incredibly proud of what the team created—quiet strength, gentle humour and a sharp emotional truthfulness that resonated with audiences across the weekend.
And, selfishly, it reminded me why I love directing: the collaborative alchemy that turns a script into something breathing.
Here’s to more stories, more experimentation and more moments that make us ask ourselves, “What’s going to happen to us?”
Whatever it is… hopefully something honest, brave and human.