the broken mishkan
I lost my good health at mid-life. Everything I had hoped and planned for fell away, and I found myself in a strange, new landscape.
But then I learned how to draw.
Mishkan is a Hebrew word for “sacred space.” The Broken Mishkan is a twenty-three minute performance piece that follows my journey toward wholeness after being diagnosed with a chronic illness. Weaving my story with an evocation of Bezalel, the first human artist in the Bible, the work celebrates the poignant intersections between creativity, healing, wilderness, and blessing.
I bring performance/conversation events to faith communities, schools, conferences, and other groups over Zoom and am grateful for every person I have met along the way who has shared about their joys, courage, and perseverance.
For bookings, please be in touch here.
The Broken Mishkan trailer
what people are saying
A profoundly moving testament to the power of the imagination. By juxtaposing the biblical story of the Exodus in the desert with her own “wilderness” experience of chronic illness, Sara offers that rarest of gifts: an intensely personal story that becomes our own.
Helen Stoltzfus, Black Swan Arts & Media
A story for our times. Sara’s message about the power of creativity to heal and provide refuge through hard times was a blessing to our entire community.
Reverend Julia McKay, High Plains Unitarian Universalist Church
Our community loved Sara’s presentation and she is a wonderful performer! Her soulful narrative, in which she deftly weaves archetypal and personal material, made us laugh and cry. It will leave you wanting to seek out blessings in the ordinary and in the broken, as she does.
Alissa Hirshfeld, Congregation Shomrei Torah
I'm pretty sure I've never paid such close attention on Zoom for twenty-three exquisite minutes. Sara is a beautiful performer—funny, wise, vulnerable, and so, so present.
Bill Addison, Los Angeles Journalist
Sara’s performance delights with humor and wisdom, offering insights into artists working on the margins but refusing to be sidelined. My high school students were enthralled and deeply touched by her story, which brought forth rich testimonies of their own journeys.
Jim McGarry, St. Francis High School
Sara’s skills as an artist, storyteller, and actor come to the fore in the Broken Mishkan, a disarmingly simple one-woman show that provided our campus community with an opportunity to reckon with life’s fragile beauty. I highly recommend it.
Deena Aranoff, Graduate Theological Union