Houston Roberson will be part of a Monday Night MarshStream
on April 27th. Detail HERE!
The Story of a Nice White Lady
I call myself The Octobabe, which, in ordinary language, means I’m a sassy, sexy 83-year-old woman. I’m living long and loving it! I’ve wanted to be on stage ever since I was in my high school senior class play in 1954. But good girls did not go into theater in 1954. However, dreams may wrinkle but to unfold once again. I’m now on stage with my second one-woman show—The Story of a Nice White Lady. Marsh Rising also hosted my first solo show, Victory for the Recycled Virgin, several years ago.
The Story of a Nice White Lady is a hilarious and confessional scolding of the clueless racism and homophobia of nice white ladies. From churches to jazz clubs, from women’s marches to
the White House, I burst the bubble of good intentions and remind you that nice is a four-letter word.
The desire to perform has always punctuated my life. When I was 47, I quit my job and became Ribbons the Clown on the streets of San Francisco—my first solo performance. I bring to my solo work my experience as Ribbons and a writer and motivational speaker. I am also a retired human resource manager.
I like to challenge people to celebrate aging as renaissance—a phrase I coined to describe my developmental view of aging. Most of us are well-versed in the developmental tasks of childhood through mid-life, but we seldom wonder about the developmental opportunities for us as we become older adults. I claim a wonderful thing happens to us after midlife—ourselves. Living long gives us the chance to mid-wife the rebirth of the real you and real me. I invite people to explore the freedoms accompanying aging: the freedoms to reclaim our playful spirits, redeem our self-worth, and recover unselfish, community values. We then become the presence of wisdom in the world. My personal motto is: Model your life after the oak tree. Its most productive years begin at age fifty. Although not a cookie-baking grandmother, my grandchildren often thank me for my freshly baked ideas.
I have been called a “gutsy storyteller” and “an insanely expressive and inspiring spirit”—qualities that inhabit my memoir Paper Chain Confessions which is available through Amazon.com. I am a member of the Storyteller’s Association of California and I use storytelling from folk traditions, fiction, and biography to trigger reflection and conversation in my motivational Talks and Tales for the Renaissance Years. I have keynoted several conferences on aging and have always been a force in my community. I received the Solano County (CA) Living Legacy Award for Community Service. I live in Benicia, California
The Story of a Nice White Lady was developed with the actor, writer, and director Don Reed (a lead in Bartlett: Amazon Prime and a familiar presence at The Marsh) and Mark Kenward, a Bay Area icon of solo performance. Kenward also directs the show.