My life and work have been profoundly affected by the central circumstance of my existence: I was born into a very large Catholic family. As a child surrounded by many others, I wrote, performed and directed family plays with my numerous brothers and sisters. In Toronto, I began writing for the theatre when, as an actress working on a solo show, The Tarragon Theatre invited me to be a member of their Playwrights Unit. My first play, Six Palm Trees , co-written with writer/director and collaborator Gord Halloran, came out of that effort. It has since been performed more than 150 times in Toronto, San Francisco, Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Chicago, New York, Wisconsin and Central California. In 1993, Six Palm Trees was translated into French and received its first French-language production.

My path as a writer has always been a personal spiritual journey, although my work is not religious. I am drawn towards stories that I don't hear told often in the mainstream culture, and enjoy bringing to life personal, pivotal stories which have the kernel of transformation and which connect us all to each other.

The following is a description of my work in the theatre.

Singing the Bones

Here is the story of a birth. Here is the story of three women...

Meg, a passionate midwife who believes in women's ultimate power in birth; Nicole, a strong and vulnerable mother who is searching for a birth experience uninterrupted by modern medicine and Sara, the compassionate obstetrician.

The fragile line between birth and death, between violence and healing is explored by three women whose helping hands link the spirits between two worlds.

Singing the Bones - brilliant, mature, educative and profoundly moving"
Trysh Ashby-Rolls, author of "Triumph, A Journey of Healing From Incest"

Written with Recommender support from Western Canada Theatre Company, Tamanhous Theatre, Headlines Theatre, Firehall Arts Centre, Touchstone Theatre, Green Thumb Theatre. Developed through live performance at the 1992 Women in View festival with support from The Canada Council. With original music by international singer/songwriter Dee Daniels.

One Act.

The journey of a family through the emotional landscape of their shared past. It is the two-part story of two women: an Irish Catholic war widow and her determination to love in spite of the "evil that's sleepin' under all our porches." It is about the legacy she left in the lives of her fourteen children. It centres on the endless struggle for self-esteem as told by her daughter, Annie Shea, The Family Clown.

Six Palm Trees takes place around The Bathroom Door, where Everything Significant happens. It is a roller coaster ride and it will take you back to those who shaped you, to those you left.

"Charming and Witty ... warm, funny and undeniably honest"
The Edmonton Sun, Alberta

"The show zings with painful, touching insights."
The San Francisco Chronicle

"One woman play a treat ... Funny and sad, powerful and whimsical,
with mercurial mood changes and punchy humour delivered with faultless timing.
Laced with poignant childhood memories that tug at your heart,
Six Palm Trees is more than a trip down memory lane ...
It is a play with a strong message focusing on
the price one woman paid to bear and raise 14 children
... jewel of a play ..."
The Sooke Standard, Vancouver Island, BC

Developed in Toronto at Yuk Yuk's, Tarragon Theatre, through live performance. Toured central California (1989), British Columbia (1990-1995). Played at Vancouver Women in View (1989) and Fringe (1990) festivals, Firehall Arts Centre (1990) and Edmonton's Nexus Theatre (1991). Adapted to French in 1993 by Robert Daviau and Therese Perreault. Performed at the 3rd International Women Playwrights Festival in Adelaide, Australia (1993). Part of the Library of International Women Plays, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.

Two Acts.

Under the celebrated portrait of a millionaire trader, wife and mistress play a verbal game of cat and mouse until a simple twist of fate changes their lives forever.

"One of the most complex, tough minded disquisitions upon 'the new woman' and her conflicts in a man's world. ... You will be haunted for hours perhaps even days after you see this play.
Don't miss it - "
Edmonton Journal

Two-hander developed with support from the Ontario Arts Council; at Touchstone Theatre Springboard (1989), Alberta Theatre Projects (1989), Women in View festival (1990). Hold-over pick at 1991 Edmonton Fringe festival.

Two Acts.

A diverse collection of lively characters telling comedic and dramatic winter stories in the first person. Stories For A Winter Solstice includes true stories from the Pacific Northwest: Rachel is Born!, My First Christmas with Rachel, Read Island Santa Claus, When I Think of Hanukkah, The Christmas Monster of Ripple Rock and Cornucopia, Land of Winter.

"Versatile and spellbinding, enchanting,
captivating and moving."
Coastlife, Sunshine Coast B.C.

Winter Solstice captures magic, warmth"
Vancouver Sun

Toured lower mainland, B.C. in 1994 and 1995, heard on CBC's Almanac (1994 & 1995), Afternoon Show (1994) and Morningside (1996). Produced as an album of music and stories for the entire family in 1996 and performed with outstanding musical groups from the Sunshine Coast at The Raven's Cry Theatre, Sechelt.

You can order a cassette by sending $13 + GST + $2 shipping to:
Caitlin Hicks, General Delivery, Roberts Creek, B.C. V0N 2W0.
Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.

A short one act.

A woman cares for her dying husband and unravels her contribution to their violent life together.

Commissioned by Alberta Theatre Projects in 1989. Produced in Toronto in 1992 by Winking Owl Productions.

Two Acts.

Pacific Northwest old timers (Sunshine Coast, Gulf Islands) tell their life stories. Stories include: A Tough Life, Gladys and the Pig Man, Those Darn Chickens!, Where the Water Meets the Land, We Had A Marvelous Regata, Cynthia Jones Meets The Union Steamship at One AM, Growing Up with Gramma Husdon.

Work-in-progress produced at Sechelt's Festival of the Written Arts Pavillion in 1996.

My work in theatre, television and film in San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Vancouver has included roles as diverse as Nina in The Seagull, Gwendolyn in the musical of Oscar Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest, Gammer Gurton in the oldest English comedy, Gammer Gurton's Needle, Nancy Reagan in Off-Broadway A Bonzo Christmas Carol. In Toronto,
I played Sylvia Plath in the Canadian premiere of Letters Home , Fefu in Maria Irene Fornes' Fefu & Her Friends , Annie Shea in Six Palm Trees , Dorothy in Just A Little Fever and all three characters in Singing the Bones. I have performed at the National Arts Centre Atelier in Ottawa and the Festival des Ameriques Cabaret in Montreal. In film and television, credits range from a Stephen King movie of the week, IT to guest starring with Mickey Rooney in local TV series The Black Stallion . Currently I perform my own work under the umbrella title Caitlin Hicks in Performance . Radio credits include Stories for a Winter Solstice on CBC's Morningside ('96), Almanac ('94 & '95), Afternoon Show ('94) and A Woman's Body for Commentary ('95).

Board Member, Sunshine Coast Womens Resource Society (1995-96);
Chair, Women's Caucus, Playwrights Union of Canada (1992-93);
Fundraiser, Women in View (1991-92);
Manager, Sales & Marketing, Commissioned Works (1981-87).

Earlier Jobs included:
Manager, Advertising & Promotion, NBC Radio, San Francisco, California;
Writer, Producer, KCBS NewsRadio, San Francisco;
Copywriter, Mattel Toy Company, Hawthorne;
Writer, The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California.

San Francisco State University
Graduate student, Masters in Film program
Produced 13 minute, 16mm film Maman! Maman!

Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Fine Arts in French & English, graduated Cum Laude
Self-financed education * Feature Editor, The Los Angeles Loyolan
Publicity Chair, Shell & Oar
Member, Alpha Sigma Nu, Jesuit Honor Society
Member, Pi Delta Phi, French Honor Society
Awarded President's Citation for
Outstanding Contribution to Loyola Community
Awarded Escallier Grant to
travel & study the European Economic Community

HERIZONS (1996) - "One Man's Family"

BIRTH GAZETTE (1996) - "Fourth Annual Birth Gazette Conference"

VANCOUVER SUN (1993) - "Trouble In Paradise"

VANCOUVER SUN (1992) - "Doctors must also share the pain"

THE COAST NEWS (1992-1994) - Bi-weekly column - "Mountains of Things"

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (1980) - Datebook -
"David Heller's Style - 'News With A View'";
"The Events of Tomorrow, According to David Hoy";
"Night Waves With Ponek - A Time for Hope and Dreams";
"The Middle East: Images of Other Cultures";
"The Double Wink of Big Tom".

SAN FRANCISCO PROGRESS (1980) -
"Leo Ciolino is a weather watcher'.,

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (1979) - Datebook -
"You Develop a Sense of Humor Reporting the News".

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (1978) - Datebook -
"The Wake Up Voice of Hart Uncanned, Unscripted"

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (1974) - Daily camp fund articles.

CATALYST MAGAZINE (1973) - "Grandpa's Story",

LOS ANGELES LOYOLAN (1973-1974), as Feature Editor,
weekly column: "Fine and Fancy Ramble",