Local play tackles grief, family and faith

ELYRIA — Crowds at the First Congregational Church of Christ were moved on Saturday by performances of the original, fully local play "Divine Timing." Written by Carla Daniels-Valles, an Elyria Schools special education paraprofessional, Divine Timing follows the Devine family as their mother learns her cancer has returned and declines to pursue any further treatment. The family is faced with addiction, mental illness, death, grief and tests of their faith as they try to learn how to let go. Daniels-Valles said that the inspiration for the play comes from the death of her own mother. "The play is about a family dealing with grief, mental issues that come out because of grief and dealing with how those issues affect families," Daniels-Valles said. "Sometimes we lose people and they die without us solving issues, or having those discussions. The person who passes is done with it, and those that are left are left to deal with it. It came out of me losing my mom in 2021 and a lot of stuff went unsaid. So I think this was more of a healing thing for me in the writing." Because the drama deals with the topic of drug addiction as well, Daniels-Valles said she felt it was important to provide resources to inform about or help with drug addiction. Naloxone dispensers and drug testing kits were available for free outside the nave of the church, where the play was held. Daniels-Valles said it was also important to her that the play was a strong representation of Elyria and Lorain, and to that point, everyone involved in the play are locals. "We have so much talent here," she said. "Everybody on that stage, everybody involved in this, is from Elyria or Lorain. I like to see it focused and to have something for people to come and see, and hopefully grow from here." One performance of the play was held on Friday, while two were held on Saturday. This weekend was only the second set of performances from Elyria-based Write Place Productions. The playbill thanked attendees for showing their support, and promised there would be many more shows to come. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.