My husband and I travelled to Amsterdam last month and visited the Jewish Quarter and its magnificent Portuguese Synagogue. It was the perfect backdrop as we were in the middle of reading a wonderful historical novel called The Coffee Trader by David Liss.

When my husband, Brian Mani, found out three years ago that he would be cast as Lear in KING LEAR, I wondered if his preparation for the role would be different. He had done large roles before, but Lear is so iconic and challenging. It didn’t rock him. Same calm and careful approach.

I just hired a “pixologist.” What’s that? Someone who specializes in organizing and preserving photographs and papers. I have a lot of those. I have them of myself – and my siblings, and my mother and more.

So… what to do with them?

I’ve been watching copies of my mother’s home movies – made with the 16 millimeter “movie” camera she asked for as her wedding present from my father in 1933 (along with a honeymoon to Europe!).