Cleveland Public Theatre’s ‘I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes’ is a concise study on grief

Death bites...no really it does. Maybe not so much for the people that die (unless they are suffering from a long drawn out boring disease). What really bites is that we (the survivors) are left behind and we are the ones who have to come in and sort through a lifetime of accumulation of mostly crap that has filled the closets, been stashed under the bed or hidden in the attic.

A few years ago my wife’s second youngest sister passed away suddenly. She had always suffered from health problems but nothing of a deadly nature. After a minor foot operation a blood clot suddenly ended her life. One day they were talking on the phone about stuff sisters talk about and the next day not. Once the arrangements for the cremation were made it fell on us to clean out the condo by ourselves.

We traveled the 140 miles or so and entered her last dwelling. There were some complications. First of all, no one wanted to help. They had already raided the joint and grabbed what they wanted. Second, my sister in law was a hoarder. She had never thrown anything (and I mean anything) away. We had boxes of medical bills and tax forms dating back to the past thirty years. We ended up with fifty large garbage bags of...well...garbage and then there were the cats. With my SIL being only partially mobile and no help from the outlaws the kitty boxes had not been changed for a really really really long time. I can still smell it...that overwhelming odor of cat pee and poop that permeated the entire condo.

It took us four full days to sort through and dispose of all of the garbage and a rented truck to haul most of what was left to the Salvation Army and Goodwill Stores. So, yea, I can relate to Cleveland Public Theatre’s production of Amy Schwabauer’s “I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes” now on stage in the James Levin Theatre. Sorry for the rant. I guess the experience holds a spot near and dear to my heart. Fact is, I liked my wife’s sister. She was funny, creative, hardworking and loving. It really bites that she died.

“I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes” finds Amy in a one woman show surrounded by debris left over from her own sister’s passing. There are boxes and boxes of “stuff” as well as enough make-up to supply Cleveland’s theater scene for years. A stairwell on the right of the stage is blocked with boxes and an entire clothes rack dominates the back of the room.

Over the course of the 75 minute intermission free show Amy talks about her sister, Candice giving equal time to the late woman’s notable traits as well as her short comings. In the abbreviated time on stage (the minutes fly by rather quickly), Amy delves into (without naming them) the five stages of grief: Denial, Bargaining, Anger, Depression and Acceptance while sorting through the flotsam and jetsam of a well lived life. Candice was not perfect (who among us are?) and during her last days became completely uncooperative as a patient making life a living hell for Amy.

The show was developed over the years with the help of a small army of people including Ray Caspio (who directed the show), Borderlight Theatre Festival, the Dobama’s Playwright’s Gym, the Midwives Artist Collective Chicago, Mac’s Backs bookstore crew as well as close family members. It takes a village to write a play. Kathalina Plummer Thorpe designed the stage set (a challenging job if ever there was one) with TL Codella designing the lighting.

At time humorous, at times poignant and at times quite loud and angry the show is a study into the frailty of life and how we owe it to our survivors to take stock of our possessions and reduce, reuse and recycle where needed. This show is a love letter to someone who has passed as well as part of the healing process needed to move on. It is a well constructed study of life.

The Cleveland Public Theatre’s production of “I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes” will be on stage at 6415 Detroit Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio through December 20, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.cptonline.org/ or call (216) 631-2727 extension 501.