Before his death in 2025, Richard Foreman made his notebooks available for use online. From these notebooks, Ilana Khanin’s You Must Change Your Life was born. Featuring Thea Mea Hesler and Annie Hoeg, You Must Change You Life is sure to be a unique theatrical experience. I asked Thea and Annie about the show, working with text from real diaries, and what audiences can expect from this show. Enjoy!

1. Could you please introduce yourselves to my readers and tell us a bit about your role in You Must Change Your Life?

AH: Hello! My name is Annie Hoeg and I am a New York based theater maker. I’m one of a few performers in You Must Change Your Life – and I’m thrilled to be working in Toronto for the first time.

TMH: My name is Thea Mae Hesler, and I am an actress, singer and songwriter. I’m interested in making art that inspires hope by challenging the conventions of womanhood, and addressing taboo subject matter. My role in You Must Change Your Life is still being discovered. We have spent the first part of this process exploring Richard Foreman’s work and piecing together what it will become. What I can say about my character is, I will ask lots of questions, and challenge/irritate Annie’s character a lot.

2. Is there a part of this show that really speaks to you personally?

AH: Richard Foreman had such a mischievous sense of humor. His writing is incredibly funny. I see a lot of myself in the text – especially when trying to unpack the simultaneous desire to be seen and understood with the impulse of wanting to hide away.

TMH: I really enjoy discovering my dynamic with Annie. Towards the beginning of the show we are sitting together at a table, and I’m trying to appeal to her. I want her to understand my perspective. And there’s something deeply satisfying about leaving when I’ve lost hope in being understood.

3. What’s it like to work on a piece which is so heavily based in a real text?

AH: It’s cathartic. Richard Foreman was such a prolific writer, but also someone who did not claim to have all the answers. Working through these questions with him—sometimes through a stream of consciousness—has been really exciting. What is theater? What makes something worth watching? What do we owe audiences as theater makers? What makes us feel alive? These are all questions I’m asking too.

Some of his writings are pages long and others are just one sentence. It sometimes feel like playing with a magic 8 ball – but the longer I sit with the material, the more it draws out thoughts and feelings from my own life.

TMH: It’s very exciting to me. I really like how delicious his wording can be, and at times, how confusing. Through Richard Foreman’s work, we are figuring out what is “interesting.” It has been a process of exploring different props, costumes, lighting, movement and bits of text to see what sticks.

4. What’s been your favourite part of the rehearsal process so far?

AH: My favorite part of the process so far has been that we’re all figuring it out together. It’s a completely collaborative process to learn how to be alive together in the moment. In more traditional rehearsal process, a lot of time is spent on defining the giving circumstances and the imagined background of the character you’re going to be inhabiting, whereas in this practice we’re being asked only to be true to the impulses we’re feeling now, on this day, in this room, together.

TMH: I like being involved in the creation of something new. I like hearing everyone’s thoughts and different interpretations on the same piece of text. We are solving the puzzle together.

5. What do you hope audiences take away from You Must Change Your Life?

AH: I hope it opens up the conversation of all that theater can be. It’s invigorating to investigate all the different ways theater can challenge us to think about and reshape the world we live in.

I hope audiences come to see us with an open mind. If anyone has any doubts or concerns about the future of the arts, I hope it’s seen as a rallying cry. Theater has so many forms it can take – the most important thing for us all to walk away with is a sense of curiosity.

TMH: I’m still discovering and finding out what this play/process will mean to me, but I hope audiences take away that new life can be brought to old work. Richard Foreman feels very present in our rehearsal room, and that will carry to the stage. It is beautiful to experience someone through their work, even if you will never get the chance to meet.

I want to thank Thea and Annie for taking the time to answer my questions. You Must Change Your Life runs in the Alumnae Theatre Mainstage from June 11 – 21. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.youmustchange.ca/

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