KEY POINTS:
Home alone with four children aged under 4, Pauline Grogan was at breaking point so she picked up the telephone and called Pregnancy Help to say she feared she would harm the children. Within the hour, the service dispatched another mother who was at Grogan's side compiling a roster of four women to help her out.
Thirty years later, those women sat at the Playhouse Theatre in Hastings watching Grogan's remarkable life story unfold on stage as she performed her one-woman show 500 Letters.
500 Letters weaves together Grogan's life story with that of Tauranga man James Lynch who spent 44 years in hospital bedridden and unable to speak clearly. Yet Lynch befriended All Blacks, charmed politicians, played hospital matchmaker and inspired dozens of others who marvelled at his zest for life.
When he died, Grogan, one of his many friends, wrote A View From Within - the story of James Lynch. She was persuaded by Lauren Hughes, of the STAMP programme at The Edge, to develop both of her books into a theatre piece to be directed by Margaret Mary Hollins, whom Grogan taught at school.
500 Letters debuted with a sell-out season in Auckland in 2005. Since then, it has grown bigger than Grogan, then a theatre newcomer, could ever have imagined. She has toured the North Island twice and is still deciding whether to accept invitations to perform in the South Island and at international arts festivals.
Grogan credits its popularity to the fact that 500 Letters tells a universal story and those watching can identify with the humanity, the pathos and, at times, the humour in her own life.
At first, she was fully focused on the "stage mechanics" of performing - where to put her feet, how to turn, voice projection and the technicalities of integrating music and singing, puppetry and storytelling. "I didn't know upstage from downstage," she confesses.
But the more she performed, the more the stagecraft fell into place, leaving her to focus on the magic of the storytelling and audience reactions.
Now everywhere she goes with the show, she encounters people from her past as well as strangers desperate to share their stories with her. What she has witnessed and heard has left Grogan shaken at the depth of emotion 500 Letters provokes in others.
"The more I did the show, the more I saw that it was striking a chord with people about their own lives," she says. "I think this is because it unwittingly opens up so many everyday issues. It seems to encourage people to share their experiences and then they discover they already have the ability to cope with whatever life throws at them."
Grogan has played many roles in her 63 years: teacher, nun, wife, mother, professional speaker, author and advocate for improving the care of young stroke victims.
She first came to public attention in 1996 when she wrote the book Beyond the Veil about her life as a nun and an incident involving an abusive priest that saw her out on the streets with a few belongings and nowhere to go.
Married a year later, Grogan had four children in 3 years. Although she successfully battled post-natal depression, tragedy struck when her eldest child, then aged 10, collapsed with a brain haemorrhage leading to a debilitating stroke.
The ensuing years led her on a fascinating journey of study and research into the effects of trauma on families as she fought to keep her own together.
When Beyond the Veil was published, she was initially pilloried by the church, friends and some family members. Yet by telling her story in 500 Letters, Grogan knows she has inspired others to come forward.
"People talk about the power of theatre to bring communities together, to provoke and change the way we view the world. Well, I have seen it first-hand."
After each performance, Grogan spends time meeting and talking with audience members. Total strangers have told her of traumatic incidents in their lives they say they have never discussed with anyone else.
"In a sense, 500 Letters empowers others to find their own inner strength and start to deal with pain from their own pasts. I have been shocked at the aloneness of people who have buried secrets and their desperate need to reach out to someone who can listen."
Grogan has had to put systems in place that offer help. Recently, Catholic priests from two dioceses, who came to the show, offered their support to anyone she thinks needs more extensive assistance.
If the person is in an abusive situation and wants help, each will then go to the Bishop of their Diocese who will confront those concerned.
Grogan finds it ironic that the church which once turned its back on her is now supporting her. "But times change and they have for the better."
Performance
What: 500 Letters, by Pauline Grogan
Where and when: Herald Theatre, Nov 19-23
