On February 18 and 19, Royal alumni Ingrid De Sanctis (‘88) returned to the EMU stage to premiere her first solo play, “The Things I Forgot”. As the reimagination of her former full-length script, “Stained Glass”, the play centers around Ingrid’s experience growing up in the Pentecostal church as a preacher’s daughter. In the beginning, Ingrid portrays a nostalgic, almost romantical picture of her childhood. However, her seemingly perfect family and faith shatters as Ingrid discovers the reality of who her father actually is. The audience then follows Ingrid through her journey for answers, as she returns years later—as an adult—for her father’s funeral.
Students and fans alike gathered to witness this personal retelling of memories, fantastical allusions, and storytelling. Ingrid frequently alluded to the original version of “The Little Mermaid” as a metaphor for herself throughout the play. She embarks on a seemingly never-ending pursuit of closure and desire to know every last one of her father’s victims. Through this progression, Ingrid expertly explores themes of trauma, betrayal, healing, and what faith actually means.
After the performance, an interactive Q&A took place. When asked about her inspiration for “The Things I Forgot”, Ingrid reflected back on the Me Too movement. Themes of solidarity and power in numbers in the movement reminded her of her father’s questioning: at the first accusation, men of the church were skeptical. However, after dozens of women came forward, the severity of the situation became impossible to ignore.
This performance forced the audience to reflect on faith, and the respective loss of it that comes with trauma. It confronts an unfortunate aspect of society that is common and real, and doesn’t stop with faith. Ultimately, “The Things I Forgot” shows a perspective that is often ignored in cases like this: the family.
“As a kid, you believe everything,” Ingrid said. “Even if you know nothing about the Pentecostal church, I hope you could take something from this.”
