QA: Sadie Chamberlain's Play About Life With Cerebral Palsy
Nov 06, 2024
Sadie Chamberlain has an active imagination and a way with words. The Northeast Kingdom native has been acting since she was 5 years old. Now a senior at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, the 22-year-old has performed in two dozen shows and is pursuing a double major in theater and psychology. For her senior capstone project, Chamberlain wrote a fantastical play about her life with cerebral palsy. In A Taste of Freedom, she sings, dances and acts as the Maiden, one of four characters who inhabit a Celtic landscape. In the latest episode of "Stuck in Vermont," Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger stopped by the campus to see a rehearsal of the show. A Taste of Freedom runs from Wednesday, November 6, through Saturday, November 9, at the McCarthy Arts Center Theatre at St. Mike's. Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode. Why did you pick this story? I got an email about Chamberlain's upcoming show from Peter Harrigan, a theater professor at St. Mike's. I have featured Harrigan in two previous videos. In 2017, I met him during a production of Mill Girls, and last year I got a tour of his impressive Barbie collection; that video won a few awards and has about 76,000 views online. So when Harrigan told me about Chamberlain's play, which he is directing, I knew it must be something special. What was your first impression? Chamberlain is charming, articulate and incredibly creative. I enjoyed talking to her in the dressing room before watching the rehearsal. She loves classical music, and we bonded over our "nerd" statuses. Even after she described the plot to me, I had many questions — I need to see the full show in November. I only filmed a few scenes, but the play was refreshingly strange, with snappy banter. I loved the fantasy element, and her music choices are excellent. You had some great footage of Chamberlain on campus and at home. I am very grateful to Chamberlain and her family and friends for providing me with video footage of her walking around campus, studying and feeding chickens at her home in Burke. It helped me get to know her better to see her in these contexts outside the theater. It makes the story richer, too. I was also glad to include photos of Chamberlain from various productions at St. Mike's and Lyndon…