Written & Performed by Diane M. Barnes M.D.
Directed by Rebecca Fisher
Developed with David Ford
Logo Photo by Louis Pepin
Logo Graphic Design by Kevin Clarke
This show addresses:
Stroke / Brain Function
Physician as Patient
Adoption / Adoptive Parent
Diane wakes up. Alone! The place looks hauntingly familiar. But she expected to be dead. Where am I? she wonders. Not the hospital. But if this is my home, where are my children? A spellbinding and funny look at love, family, seemingly insurmountable odds and the wonder of the human brain. My Stroke of Luck is the story of a single adoptive mother of special needs and gifted sons, a practicing physician, who forges a new identity after a debilitating stroke.
Photo courtesy of Harris and Mattei Photography
“compelling…a heartening illustration of Barnes’
sentiment, savvy and survival skills.”
– San Francisco Examiner
“poignant…her stage presence glows with her personal warmth and the inner strength of someone who has worked hard to recover from a brain injury.”
– Huffington Post
“‘My Stroke of Luck’ is a riveting, tense, and touching story of a single mother grappling with no longer being able to take care of yourself, much less her two sons.”
— Sam Hurwitt Marin Independent Journal
“provides astonishing insight into neurological recovery”
– Robert Weinmann, MD, Legislative Chair of the California Neurology Society
After a career as a physician (Diagnostic Radiology), and the stroke that inspired this story, Diane stumbled into improvisation. And through the magic door of performance. After an introduction to solo performance with W. Allen Taylor, Diane discovered David Ford and The Marsh, where she developed her first show, My Stroke of Luck.
Photo courtesy of David M. Allen
@MyStrokeofLuckSoloPerformance
@dianebarnes415
@dbStrokeofLuck