Mother's hidden messages to God explored in solo show coming to Ireland

“The God Box, Sharing my mother’s gift of faith, love and letting go” sees one daughter come to terms with her mother's death. 

Like many people who lose a loved one, author Mary Lou Quinlan, an over-achieving and devoted daughter, struggled to come to terms with the death of her mother—until she found an unexpected gift from the woman she missed so deeply. 

In her New York Times bestselling book “The God Box, Sharing my mother’s gift of faith, love and letting go”, Quinlan shares the story of her remarkable discovery of her mother’s “God Boxes” filled with hundreds of private petitions on torn pages and Post-its written by the very hand that had slipped away.

The book inspired her solo show, “The God Box, A Daughter’s Story.” Performed by Quinlan and co-written and directed by Martha Wollner of NYC’s LAByrinth Theater Company and developed in association with the Irish Repertory Company of NYC, this theatrical piece follows Quinlan on an emotional roller-coaster, ricocheting from grief to laughter to the greatest human challenge: learning to let go.

Read more: A mother’s hopes for her daughter live on: Mary Lou Quinlan’s “The God Box”

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The God Box

The performance scheduled for 8 pm at the Derry Playhouse benefits the Foyle Hospice. Tickets are €12 and available through the Playhouse box office 028 71268027 and online at www.derryplayhouse.co.uk.

Quinlan, a charismatic storyteller, has performed the show for seven years in more than 80 venues around the US, as well as Off-Broadway and in 24 performances at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it earned five stars.

In June 2016, Quinlan brought the show to the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and that autumn to ten theaters in the Republic, including the Lime Tree in Limerick, the Pavilion in Dun Laoghaire and Hawk’s Well in Sligo, with all proceeds benefitting local hospice care. Since its debut, The God Box Project (book and play) has raised nearly $500,000 US for cancer, hospice and education charities.

Visit www.theGodBoxproject.com for photos, videos and information.