Wendy Judith Cutler knows a lot about the memoir writing form.
She has led workshops in memoir and journal writing, in both her former home in Oregon, and on Salt Spring Island, and facilitates WomenWriting circles. She is the co-editor, with islanders Ahava Shira and Lynda Monk, of Writing Alone Together: Journalling in a Circle of Women for Creativity, Compassion and Connection.
So it’s no surprise that an immersion in life writing eventually resulted in her writing a play that delves into a turbulent period of time both personally and globally. Using journals and letters as rich source material, Cutler has crafted a five-scene dramatic piece called An UnDutiful Daughter. It explores a woman’s struggle to become her authentic self — a radical lesbian feminist — beginning in 1970s’ Los Angeles, while facing vehement disapproval from upper-middle-class Jewish family members.
In one play scene the first paragraph of her “coming-out” letter to her parents is read. In the reply from her mother were the words: “The day we received your letter was the worst day of my life.’”
I saw the play when it made its debut at Beaver Point Hall in 2022, and it’s one of the heartbreaking moments that crystalizes the pain of rejection felt by the central character, played by Barbara Slater.
The older brother’s role is perhaps more pivotal, though. Because he was “a radical” who took her to protests and was a public defender as an attorney, she expected him to support her in coming out as gay and being happy in love and thriving.
“The biggest betrayal was from my brother, because we had been so close, and then, you know, it just became awful and I had to really protect myself from him,” says Cutler.
It was examining her feelings about her brother that planted a seed to dramatize her experiences, first writing a scene at an ArtSpring workshop where she puts her brother “on trial.”
An UnDutiful Daughter arrives on the big stage at ArtSpring for a June 12, 13, 14 run, with mostly the same cast as the Beaver Point version.
“I felt like we had good audiences there, and I loved the hall and all of that. But then I thought ArtSpring is more central and there are still a lot of people who didn’t see it.”
Cutler is extremely grateful for support from friends and community organizations that have made her work possible. That includes the cast and crew for both the Beaver Point and ArtSpring shows. This time, in addition to Slater, Kevin Wilkie plays both the brother and the father; Therin Gower is the lover (and assistant director); Lisa Dahling is the mother; April Curtis is also on the directing team and playing the role of Karma; Wendy Beatty is both the ex-lover and the mother’s friend.
Sue Newman of Newman Family Productions and other creative endeavours is the play’s director.
Cutler has high praise for Newman and her process, which she says always creates a trusting environment where people feel seen, heard and valued.
“There are not a lot of people like Sue in the world, with her values and her sensitivity and empathy and skill.”
Newman says that while An UnDutiful Daughter is obviously specific to Cutler’s life experience and family conflicts regarding gender, it goes far beyond that because “it also just speaks to miscommunication of any kind, or misunderstanding, or trying to make a case for just being oneself . . . it does speak to everybody that has inter-family struggles.”
The play also includes a projections of video clips of both home movies from Cutler’s early life and images of significant social-political events from the times, which will be more dramatic in the ArtSpring theatre.
For Cutler, the play’s portrayal of activism and the positive changes that resulted is also important.
“I would be a different person if I hadn’t really been exposed to and part of and engaged with a political movement that also touched me personally.”
The June 12-14 shows of An UnDutiful Daughter start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 through ArtSpring.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the May/June 2025 issue of Aqua – Gulf Islands Living magazine.