Meeting Martin Sheen

On Friday, June 13th, I was especially honored to be invited by Msgr. Michael Doyle to join him and a small group as he was visited by the incredible actor and humanitarian, Martin Sheen. Martin (as he told us to call him) toured the church, greenhouse and oven area and then honored us all by going into the hole in the ground that was the basement of my grandfather's bar, Walt's Café, and do an incredible performance of a poem that he cherishes. We then sang, prayed and had an incredible dinner together where he told us stories about his career and life. I told him about "the play that is rebuilding a corner" and he was kind enough to take my play "Last Rites" with him on the plane home.

On the following Thursday you can imagine how shocked I was when he called my cell phone and we had a long conversation about the play, Camden and the future of the theatre. He gave me two wonderful critiques which have pushed me back into a rewrite (after 12 years). This is an incredible man and his generosity and advice will never be forgotten. He said to me "you now have a RESPONSIBILITY to write and to work at my craft".

I will remember these words always and I will fall back on them as I work into the future. Thank you Martin Sheen and a huge thank you to Fr. Doyle for making is all happen!