Letters to Joan
Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker 3, 11:35am, August 5th-31st,Produced by Richard Jordan Productions in Association with Pleasance
What 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 from debut US playwright Samantha Streit, directed by Scotsman Fringe First Award-winner Jessica Whiley and produced by Tony, Olivier, Emmy and 19-time Scotsman Fringe First award-winning producer Richard Jordan, about the dreams we chase, the ones we abandon, and the unshakeable longing for the life that might have been.A heartwarming and bittersweet story of love, memory and missed chances, Letters to Joan is set to capture every Fringe-goer's heart.
Royal Albert Hall
NOV 2025
Letters to Joan reached a new milestone when I was invited to read one of my grandmother’s original letters at Letters Live at Royal Albert Hall alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Joe Alwyn, Nish Kumar, Michael Palin, Celia Imrie, and more. It was truly a dream come true.
A granddaughter finds her grandmother’s 1956 love letters, uncovering a lost dream and a story of love, grief, and the choices that shape us. A true story unfolding between a Brooklyn summer and a present-day diner, where past and present blur.
About The SHOW
In 1956 Brooklyn, an aspiring playwright falls in love, her letters brimming with desire and ambition. Decades later, her granddaughter, a writer herself, uncovers them—tracing the arc of a love story cut short and a dream left unfinished. Between a Brooklyn summer alive with possibility and a present-day American diner steeped in nostalgia, past and present blur.
She sits across from the man who once held her grandmother’s heart, wrestling with the choices that shaped two lives. Letters to Joan is a true story that explores the dreams we chase, the ones we abandon, and the unshakable longing for the life that might have been.
The Story Behind the Play
1956
2001
1957
Three years ago, I stumbled upon hundreds of love letters my grandparents wrote when they first met. Both passed away before I was eleven, and though I have memories of them, I never truly knew them. But in reading their words, I felt as if I was meeting them for the first time.That discovery became Letters to Joan, premiering this summer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival—the largest arts festival in the world.
Bringing Letters to Joan to Life
A Dream Fulfilled
My grandmother, I discovered, once dreamed of being a playwright.
She studied playwriting at Columbia University, in New York City, just a block from where I later found myself writing at The Hungarian Pastry Shop, eating the same cheese danishes, staring at my own pages. But life took her in a different direction, and she never pursued that dream.
Now, it feels like I am not only realizing my dream, but hers as well.
shows
EDINBURGH FRINGE 2026
Pleasance Courtyard
Bunker 3
August 5-31
11:35am-12:35pm
Fundraising Events
Future showings incoming soon....
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The team
Samantha Streit
WRITER/ACTOR : LONDON
Sam, Joan
Hi! I’m Sam—a New Yorker living in London, and the writer, actor, and producer behind Letters to Joan. You’ll often find me writing in coffee shops—The Hungarian Pastry Shop in New York, Pophams in London—or running through a city to clear my head. My work explores themes of memory, vulnerability, and reflection, creating space for audiences to slow down, reconnect, and feel deeply.
I have a BA in Theatre Studies from Duke University, where I starred in everything from Shakespeare to new works by Claudia Rankine and premiered my own one-woman show. I’ve trained at RADA, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Atlantic Theater Company, Northwestern’s Cherubs, Stella Adler, and The Barrow Group. I was honored with the university’s Outstanding Actor award.
My one-woman show, This Green Plot Shall Be Our Stage, began as a participatory audio tour through gardens, inviting audiences into rituals of reflection before culminating in a live Shakespeare performance. I’ve continued that journey with mindfulness-guided audio tours in New York, and now, after two years of writing, I’m excited to bring Letters to Joan, inspired by my grandmother’s 1956 love letters, to the stage this summer at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Kevin Cahill
ACTOR : OREGON
Grandfather, Len
One of the most extraordinary moments in this journey happened when I met Kevin Cahill while performing in a Shakespeare festival in Oregon. My grandfather was a high school history teacher, and Kevin was a retired high school English teacher himself.
We bonded over poetry, literature, and hikes through the mountains, and on the last day, he handed me a letter. In it, he wrote that our conversations had been "edifying" and included the works of a poet he once met who had moved him deeply. The words resonated in a way I couldn’t explain, and I knew then that Kevin had to play my grandfather.
Jessica Whiley
Director
Jessica Whiley (Director) Jessica is an award-winning director, having studied at the Oxford School of Drama. Recent credits include The 2025 Scotsman Fringe First award-winning play Youth in Flames
(Edinburgh and New York City); Ned Ludd (Underbelly Boulevard Soho); An Tobar (Pleasance Theatre), and PRESSURE (Soho Theatre Walthamstow).
Ciara Moss
Lighting & Sound Designer
Ciara is a lighting designer and programmer who trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.Her credits include Romeo and Juliet and Carousel (Regents Park Open Air Theatre 2021), Platinum Party at the Palace (2022), Chess at Curve Theatre Leicester (2022), Strike! at Southwark Playhouse (2023), Charlie Cooks Favourite Book at Trafalgar Theatre (2024), A Brides Woven Plea at Curve Theatre Leicester (2025), Youth In Flames at Edinburgh (2025) and most recently Hell Hath No Fury at The Cockpit Theatre.
Richard Jordan Productions
Richard Jordan Productions is a TONY, Olivier, EMMY, and 19-time Scotsman Fringe First Award-winning creative production company under the artistic leadership of British producer Richard Jordan. Based in
London, the company was founded in 1998 and enjoys associations with many of the world’s leading theatres and arts organizations, including a long association with the Pleasance and Edinburgh Fringe.
Described by The Stage newspaper “as one of the UK’s most prolific theatre producers” and named seven times in their annual list of the top 100 UK theatre professionals, Richard Jordan Productions has produced over 260 productions in the UK as well as 28 other countries including over 30 New York presentations, 90 world premieres and 91 North American, UK, or Australian premieres by new and established writers, artists, and companies. Past productions have won awards including: Tony Award (along with eleven other Tony nominations); the Laurence Olivier Award; 19 Scotsman Fringe Firsts; 10 Total Theatre Awards; 2 Herald Angel Awards; Emmy Award; Off-West End Award; US Black Alliance Award; 2 Jeff Awards; Obie Award; 3 Helen Hayes Awards; John Gassner Award for Best New American Play; Drama Desk, Drama League; New York Critics; Broadway.com, and Outer Critics’ Circle Best New Play Awards. Most recently, the company was the recipient of the 2025 Adelaide Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and Best Digital/Immersive Theatre Production. A new writing and musical theatre specialist, Richard Jordan was
the first recipient of the TIF/Society of London Theatre Producers Award. In 2013, he became the first British producer to have won every notable Broadway and off-Broadway Best New Play Award. For his work in human rights and freedom of expression, bringing to the stage voices from different communities and raising awareness of their associated issues, Richard’s productions have received two Amnesty International Awards and the US Black Alliance Award. In 2022, he became the first international producer to present work inside Ukraine since the outbreak of war with the Russian Federation in a collaboration with its national arts festival, which brought art and humanitarian aid into the country. Most recently, in both 2025 and 2026, the Australia-based company ‘one step at a time like this’ and Richard Jordan Productions celebrated their second Adelaide Fringe Award for Transmission: into the Dark for Best of Interactive / Best of Film & Digital Award for its creative use of technology and immersive storytelling.Though we didn’t know each other during our time at Duke, Parrish and I connected through our shared alma mater and quickly discovered a mutual belief in theatre as a space for rigorous inquiry, emotional truth, and deep human connection. Our collaboration began with SMJ’s Untitled Raccoon Play and continues in Letters to Joan, where Parrish brings his soulful, intuitive vision and joyful, heart-led approach to storytelling.
Finding Forests
Finding Forests is the creative production company of New York–born actor and writer Samantha Streit.
Founded to house work that transforms personal material into intimate, participatory storytelling, Finding Forests develops projects across theatre, audio, and film that make private memory feel immediate and shared. Its productions include This Green Plot Shall Be Our Stage — a piece blending immersive audio and live performance that guided audiences into Shakespearean forests as spaces of reflection and ritual — and Letters to Joan, which receives its premiere at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe and had an extract included in Letters Live, with Benedict Cumberbatch and where Samantha was invited to read one of her grandmother's original letters at the Royal Albert Hall. Finding Forests is currently developing a number of
new works, including an upcoming podcast.
Pleasance Theatre
The Pleasance Theatre Trust is a leading UK arts charity dedicated to creating space for emerging voices, bright ideas and outstanding performance. With a proud history rooted in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a permanent base in Islington, London, the Trust fosters theatrical innovation, accessibility and growth within the performing arts. We exist to champion innovation across theatre, comedy and performance;
provide accessible, affordable platforms for artists to take creative risks; develop the skills and careers of young and emerging talent both on and off stage; support a diverse, inclusive and equitable creative community; entertain, engage and inspire audiences across the UK and beyond.
Why This Show Matters
For everyone who has ever felt lost, or been in love, or chased big crazy dreams, I want to bring that to life for you through this play—but also through shared experiences. This project isn’t about profit; it’s about honoring two people who shaped me and creating a space for anyone who has ever wondered if they’ll be remembered, if their words will last.
As my grandmother once wrote:
“Lenny, something very wonderful happened to me when I met you, something I’ve been waiting for 23 years of my life and selfish soul that I am, I have no intention of giving it up so easily.”
I feel that same way about this play. It is a piece of my soul, and I am determined to see it come to life.
Get in contact
Submit your Letter
If you could write a letter to anyone—who would it be?
A grandparent long gone. A friend you lost touch with. The person you used to be. Or someone you’ve yet to meet. Maybe it’s a letter you once received—tucked in a drawer, still lingering in your chest.
Letters are a lost art form. They hold magic. They remember for us. Write yours. Share it anonymously—or not. Some may appear on our social media or whispered into the world at future events
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