LETTERS TO JOAN to Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe from Finding Forests

Finding Forests and Richard Jordan Productions, in association with the Pleasance, will present Letters to Joan – A Lovely New Play by Samantha Streit, a new play about the dreams we chase, the ones we abandon, and the unshakeable longing for the life that might have been. The play is written by Samantha Streit, performed by Samantha Streit and Kevin Cahil, and directed by Jessica Whiley. Performances will run at The Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Three), 5 - 31 August at 11.35 (12.35).

What would happen if La La Land chose love over ambition? What if The Notebook kept going 50 years later? When a granddaughter uncovers a box of forgotten love letters, she finds herself slipping between a 1956 Brooklyn summer alive with possibility and a present-day American diner steeped in nostalgia. Inspired by hundreds of real letters, Letters to Joan is an intimate new play to capture every Fringe-goer's heart, telling of the dreams we chase, the ones we abandon, and the unshakeable longing for the life that might have been.

Three years ago, US playwright and actor Samantha Streit stumbled upon hundreds of love letters her grandparents wrote when they first met. Both passed away before she was eleven, and though she has memories of them, she never truly knew them. But as she read their words, Samantha felt as if she were meeting them for the first time. That discovery became Letters to Joan.

Samantha's grandmother, she discovered, once dreamed of being a playwright. She studied playwriting at Columbia University in New York City, just a block from where Samantha later found herself writing at The Hungarian Pastry Shop, eating the same cheese danishes, staring at her own pages. But life took her grandmother in a different direction, and she never pursued that dream. 

Following the play's development at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, London's Viola! Theatre Festival and in the US, Samantha returns to Edinburgh, teaming up with exciting young director Jessica Whiley and award-winning producer Richard Jordan, to premiere her first play, where it feels as though she is not only realising her dream, but her grandmother's as well.

Samantha Streit is a New York–born actor and writer. A graduate of Duke University's Theatre Studies program, she has trained at RADA, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, and Atlantic Theatre Company. Her work transforms personal material into intimate, participatory storytelling that invites reflection and connection.

During the development of Letters to Joan, Samantha was invited to read one of her grandmother's original letters at Letters Live with Benedict Cumberbatch at the Royal Albert Hall. Her earlier immersive show, This Green Plot Shall Be Our Stage, blended audio and live performance to guide audiences into Shakespearean forests as spaces of reflection and ritual. 

Across theatre, audio, and film, she creates immersive experiences that make private memory feel immediate, personal, and shared. She resides between New York City and London.

Get Broadway News on WhatsApp

Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.

Don't Miss a Scotland News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...