What a wonderfully artistic trip and I got to reach a whole new audience with the message of the power of forgiveness.

One more opportunity this Friday night at The North Hollywood Church of Religious Science on Whitsett. What a lovely church. I’m looking forward to performing there.

It’s this Friday July 16th at 8 PM at the North Hollywood Church of Religious Science on Whitsett.

There will be cookies and tea served before the show and the talented singer/ songwriter Caroline Waters will be doing a pre-performance show with songs she wrote for My Brooklyn Hamlet’s original soundtrack. The show will be filmed for John Zak’s upcoming documentary about the healing powers of forgiveness.

Stay for the short Q and A and then join me and friends for a “Welcome Back from London and Dessert party” nearby.

Get your advanced tickets for the show directly from the church at http://www.nhcrs.org for $5 off.

Check out a recent review from my run in London:

My Brooklyn Hamlet – Brenda Adelman’s story has shocking parallels with Shakespeare’s play

By Judi Herman

http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=3435

A man shoots his wife dead and marries her sister…

Extraordinarily his daughter finds it in her heart to forgive him. And she is the winner in this unfolding tragedy for it takes his death to set her on the path to the forgiveness that will heal her.

Ultimately the audience at Brenda Adelman’s searing one-woman show are winners too as she shares her extraordinary true story…

Her father’s gun is a motif in young Brenda’s life for her father teaches her to use it when she is just ten years old. By this time her mother has taught her to recite her favourite excerpts from Shakespeare, a legacy she uses in the show to spellbinding effect..

Brenda does not just live to tell her tale, she is brave enough to share her journey to ‘truth and reconciliation’ and the way it has shaped her life, leading her for example to take a masters in spiritual psychology – and of course to write and perform My Brooklyn Hamlet. She morphs effortlessly into both parents and does not spare her audience the gory details of their relationship, or the depths of her own pain… thanks to her winning open personality and the simplicity and candour of her storytelling, nicely leavened with a disarming humour and her great personal charm, the parts add up to a gripping whole.

And I’ll be leading a live 90 minute workshop on the Power of Forgiveness in Relationships (current, new to dating and your relationship with yourself) the next day-Saturday, July 17th from 1-2:30 in Westwood. More info on that coming.

Forgive and Be Free,

Brenda

My Brooklyn Hamlet

Published Wednesday 16 June 2010 at 12:08 by Jonathan Lovett

Before the play begins we’re told this is a true story.

After a lifetime of break-ups, ferocious arguments and passionate reconciliations, Brenda Adelman’s father shot her mother in the head and married the dead woman’s sister.

Strong stuff indeed, but what’s even more eyebrow raising is that Adelman herself is the writer and performer, so presenting a fascinating example of theatre as self-help.

Taking on the personas of feckless, skirt-chasing father and exasperated, bohemian-loving mum, Adelman also places her younger selves in the frame to present an engaging portrait of a dysfunctional Brooklyn family and moving pictures from the psychiatrist’s couch.

Carefully avoiding sensation or sentimentality, Adelman’s dialogue is direct and prosaic. Perhaps too prosaic on occasions, as a little more lyricism could have raised the dramatic temperature and ensured the chunks of Hamlet quoted near the end do not jar so blatantly.

But the power of the story carries this through, along with the winning personality of the flame-haired performer who seems to have successfully dealt with her demons and found a happier ending than the troubled Prince of Denmark.

http://www.jewishtelegraph.com/leeds_3.html

Brenda always thought of herself as a daddy’s girl – until he murdered her mum

THE scenario of a man killing his wife and some time later marrying the woman’s older sister is the sort of storyline one would expect to see on Eastenders.

But this bizarre state of affairs really happened to Brenda Adelman, whose show My Brooklyn Hamlet made such an impact at this year’s festival.

Brenda insists that she came from a happy family background in spite of her father killing her mother and then marrying her aunt.

And throughout the nightmare and trauma that followed the killing, which took place during the high holy days, Brenda claims the act of forgiveness was the catharsis that sustained and helped her own wounds to heal.

Actress Brenda had already left the Brooklyn family home eight months previously and made a life for herself in Los Angeles.

When she was 30, Brenda received news that changed her life. Her father had shot her mother, a photographer, in the head at point-blank range.

“I really loved both my parents and I adored my father so much, I was always ‘daddy’s little girl’ – so I was in total shock.

“My father’s lawyer was with him after the shooting, but didn’t inform the police till some eight hours after the killing, by which time my mother had been cleaned up and there were no clues.”

Brenda went into denial. Her father argued he and his wife were fighting and struggling with the gun and it went off. Brenda claims there was a cover up because the gun, the one that her father always carried around with him, simply vanished.

“The police said it wasn’t suicide because there was no gun-powder on my mother’s hands and my father claimed he did not remember who pulled the trigger,” she said.

“Nothing made sense. But I held on to that little thing of who pulled the trigger.

“My father pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was given a sentence of just two and a half years.

“He was a wealthy man so he had good lawyers who also represented the Mafia. I just wanted closure, but every time I broached the subject of what happened he would brush it aside saying the past is the past and he didn’t want to talk about it.”

Brenda said her parents always had a love-hate relationship and there was a lot of domestic violence at home.

She recalled her father holding the gun to her mother’s head on a couple of occasions when she was a teenager.

But her mother told her later it was a regular occurrence. Brenda was in her early 20s when her mother decided to leave her father but the quirky bohemian photographer was soon to return.

Brenda said: “When my mother eventually took him back I just thought she must have been lying about continually being threatened with the gun because why would she return if he did that to her?”

After the tragedy it crossed Brenda’s mind that her mother might have been killed somewhere else, not necessarily in her bedroom, because there was no sign of blood anywhere.

“When the killing occurred I kept thinking that it was my fault and that I was damaged, because if these were my parents and I loved them so much how could this have happened. I came to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with me. So I was the one who felt guilty.”

The defining moment for Brenda came when her father got out of prison and said he was going to take his daughter to court. He was going to claim one third of the money that his wife had left Brenda in her will, because he felt the money was rightfully his.

“It was then I recognised that my father was not the man I thought he was; the dad I really wanted to have back in my life.

“And I realised I needed to move out of being a victim into acceptance and start taking my life back.”

This resulted in My Brooklyn Hamlet, Brenda’s one-woman play which she describes as “very entertaining, very tragic and very New York”.

She said: “I found acting the roles of my parents and aunt on stage became cathartic and from my point of view a sort of therapy to see what they were really like.”

Her introduction to the William Shakespeare went back to childhood when her mother read the great plays to her daughter as bedtime stories.

“After the tragedy I turned to Hamlet because there I found a soul mate; someone who had experienced the same things that I had,” she said. “It was really a salvation for me and I owe that to my mother.

“As a child there was always a part of me that knew it wasn’t right that my parents were treating each other this way. I knew the difference from right and wrong and in some way that kept me sane.”

Brenda firmly believes there was a bigger picture that she couldn’t see. She knew that in witnessing her parent’s relationship there was this tumultuous love-hate issue between them and, instead of taking responsibility for their own actions, they chose to blame each other for what went wrong.

“I also realised that my parents were flawed and I tried to find out why they were such unhealthy people,” she added.

Brenda also felt the time was right for her to forgive the unforgivable, which is what her show is all about. Performing her play with the Shakespearian connection in England is, she notes, like a dream come true.

“It is gratifying to know that my show opens the hearts of those who see it and causes many people to look within at their own hurt and anger,” said the 45-year-old New Yorker.

JOHN FISHER’S VIEW: For some children having wacky parents can be a whole heap of fun.

For Brenda, it was just the norm; she claims to have had an idyllic childhood loving deeply both her mother Barbara and her father Jerry.

But it was evident from the unfolding events in Brenda’s one woman show My Brooklyn Hamlet that her family was to some extent out of the ordinary.

Not every three-year old has a daddy willing to teach his little girl to drive a Cadillac, for instance.

All credit due to him then for waiting till she was six to show her how to shoot a 38-calibre Smith and Wesson.

‘A family that shoots together stays together’ was his family motto.

And instead of Cinderella or Rapunzel, Brenda’s smoke-piping bohemian photographer mother used to read the works of Shakespeare as bedtime stories when Brenda was a toddler.

Brenda’s way of dealing with her demons was through the capacity to forgive and this is the key element in this powerful story, because only through forgiveness could Brenda find her true self.

She shares with us the privacy of her pain with disarming honesty and takes us on an incredible journey as she compares her own story to that of the Bard’s Hamlet.

Both strands contain shadowy parallels that give this quirky saga a dynamic resonance.

Already the recipient of a Hero of Forgiveness award Brenda’s decision to forgive the unforgivable makes irresistible theatre.

There is much to admire in her performance, she has undeniable charisma and the play is both engaging and deeply moving.

But beyond this there lies a sense of mystery and a mystery that will never be solved.

And because of this it is the audience that is left with a longing for closure.

© 2010 Jewish Telegraph

www.JewishTelegraph.com

The Carriageworks, Leeds

A black-and-white photo dominates the stage. It is Brenda Adelman’s father, standing in the kitchen, holding a .38 Smith & Wesson handgun. He used this gun to kill his wife. He shot her in the head. Six months later, he married her sister.

Then he went to prison for two-and-a-half years on an involuntary manslaughter plea bargain. Brenda and her brother sued him in the civil courts for their mother’s wrongful death. The court awarded them $2.2m, but dad hid his fortune so they never got a dime. Then he died. And then she forgave him.

That’s right, she forgave him.

This is Brenda Adelman’s true story. Everything so far, and plenty more, actually happened to the actress from New York, and she turned it into a one-woman, one-hour show.

To watch it unfold is gripping, emotionally draining and uplifting. Adelman recalls her father’s pride when he taught her to shoot when she was 10 – using the gun he would later use to kill her mother. She tells how she was constantly torn between her parents in a home filled with the love and hatred of a tempestuous marriage. And how the pain of childhood shaped a woman whose own relationships were based on extremes of sex and violence.

All the time there is the echo of that fatal gunshot ringing in our ears, and the knowledge that this is real, and these things really happened to the woman standing just a few feet away.

Yes, it is scripted, and yes she has performed it 1,000 times, and written a book, and set up a website and done a master’s degree in spiritual psychology. But none of that takes away from the unavoidable horror. My Brooklyn Hamlet – staged here as part of the Leeds International Performing Arts Festival before going to London – is inevitably more than a stage show. It is therapy, and truth proving itself stranger than fiction.

Adelman, brought up by her late mother with a love of Shakespeare, plays on the parallels with Hamlet – in which Claudius murders the hero’s father and marries his mother. The key difference is that while Hamlet is bent on revenge, Adelman ultimately sought to forgive her father. If any kind of remarkable twist were needed for such a story, that is it.

Father’s Day is coming up and I’ll be away performing my one-woman show. But I wanted to address how hard father’s day is for people like me, who had less than a stellar relationship with their fathers.

I know I’m not alone and so I’ve put together this short video with what helped me on my path to forgiveness.

It’s short and includes an exercise to help you open your heart while still protecting yourself.

In the loving and with forgiveness,

Brenda

Here’s the first article about my upcoming performances of my one-woman show, My Brooklyn Hamlet, at The Leeds International Jewish Performing Arts Festival.

Thank you so much to the journalist who captured the heart of my show and the work I do related to finding the forgiveness in even the unforgivable.

Come see the shows June 6th and 8th in Leeds and June 11th-June 27th at the New End Theatre in London.

http://www.thejc.com/arts/theatre-features/31732/the-actress-whos-a-real-life-hamlet

Forgive, Create, Be Free,

Brenda

If this is a topic stirs you within or you know someone who might benefit from learning the tools and techniques I’ve used to forgive what some might call the unforgivable- please join me (or pass it on) for one or both of these shows on Forgiveness. Wild-I was invited to be a guest on both shows in the same week on the same day and both on VoiceAmerica. Something is in the air. As always it’s an honor for me to be invited and I’m excited to spread forgiveness and more self-loving in this world.

First show: Don’t miss this week’s show (hosted by Maureen) themed “Forgiveness” with special guest Brenda Adelman.

THEME: Forgiveness

DATE: Thursday May 20th, 2010.

TIME: The show starts at8pm EDT on Thursdays, join our pre-show at 7:45pm EDT.

WHERE: http://www.psychica ccesstalkradio. com/index. html

Brenda Adelman holds a Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychologyand and is a transformational life coach and author of the forgiveness guide, My Father Killed My Mother and Married My Aunt: Forgiving the Unforgivable available at http://www.forgivea ndbefreebook. com

We invite you to listen and learn that forgiveness is essential to your own well-being. It ends the illusion of separation, and its power can change misery into happiness in an instant. Forgiveness is a gift to yourself it is not something you do for someone else.

Forgiveness is a journey, with many layers and seasons. It is the most important individual process that heals and brings peace to your soul and harmony to your life.

Have a question about this weeks theme, “Forgiveness” ? Send it in, it may get read and answered on air. It’s easy to do, just click here http://www.psychica ccesstalkradio. com/contactus. html

Can’t make it at that time? The show will be recorded and available as an archive, so stop by later and join in the fun: http://www.psychica ccesstalkradio. com/showarchives .html

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter. com/PATalkRadio

Register Now To Receive Site & Show News By Email: http://psychicacces stalkradio. com/email_ subscribe. php

http://www.facebook .com/event. php?eid=11691149 8347435

And show 2- a little earlier in the day:

Hello & Good Day To My Friends & Colleagues!

Hope this finds you Excellent in all ways!

The forgiving state of mind is a magnetic Power for attracting good.-Catherine Ponder

Please join us for our Broadcast on Voice America Talk Radio Health & Wellness Channel Thursday May 20th, @ 3pm PT. Our Guest will be Brenda Adelman, MA…recipient of Hero of Forgiveness Award from the Hawaii International Forgiveness Project and author of,
My Father Killed My Mother and Married My Aunt: Forgiving The
Unforgivable.

Brenda introduces her program:

Practical forgiveness:
The 3 Steps to Forgive & Be Free.

Our program, Help Me Rhonda¦NOW!, is dedicated
to awakening hearts, minds, and…most especially, Spirit to the innate
Power that resides within each one of us.
We are all and each responsible for our experiences. In that light,
every thought we think is creating our Future. The thought that we
must be willing to Love ourselves, as well as truly Love our Self,
where Self approval and Self acceptance remain in the Now, is the Key
to positive and long lasting Change.

From identifying your Passion, to eliminating your stress…to enabling
your Life to work just as you desire…I invite you to explore some
fundamentals to the gracious Journey we have been placed on…as well as
have some fun doing so! I look forward to you tuning in …and listening with an open heart!

And Remember Have a tremendously magnificent and successful day Everyday!

Blessings!
Rhonda

<http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vchannel. aspx?cid= 248>
<http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vshow.aspx? sid=1722>

Thursday at 3 PM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness Channel
Help Me Rhonda . . . NOW!
Practical Forgiveness: The 3 Steps to Forgive and Be Free <http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vepisode. aspx?aid= 46291> Brenda
Adelman introduces listeners her 3 Step Practical Forgiveness process:
1.Move out of denial and into acceptance of what is.

2.Give up your need to be right.

3.Send love and light to the person who you feel harmed you.

Adelman will go into detail of how she used this Learn More >> <http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vepisode. aspx?aid= 46291>

<http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vchannel. aspx?cid= 248> <http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vshow.aspx? sid=1722> <http://www.voiceame rica.com/ voiceamerica/ vchannel. aspx?cid= 248>

Be sure to tune in to Help Me Rhonda . . . NOW! with Rhonda M. Farrah,
MA Thursday at 3 PM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness
Channel

Log on to Listen:
http://www.voiceame rica.com

Questions? Comments?
Call: 1-866-472-5792

“There
is a mighty Power within you. There is that Spirit of Life, Light, and
Love. The more you feast on these ideas and fast from old corrosive
ones, the closer you experience the Life you desire.”
-Frank Richelieu, The Art of Being Yourself

Rhonda M. Farrah MA
Health & Wellness Unlimited
877-82COACH toll free
831-235-8928 direct line
thewellnessinstitut e@comcast. net
www.thewellnessinst itute.tv <http://www.thewelln essinstitute. tv>

<http://www.facebook .com/pages/ VoiceAmerica- Live-Internet- Talk-Radio/ 23774626916> <http://myspace. com/voiceamerica> <http://www.health. voiceamerica. com/>
Speak Up, The World Is Listening!

Forgive, Open Your Heart, Be Free,

Brenda Adelman
Out of Fear. Into Forgiveness. Onward to Freedom.

Get your forgiveness guide/ ebook and Setting Healthy Boundaries MP3 athttp://www. forgiveandbefree book.com
Need a speaker:http://www.forgiven essandfreedom. com

http://www.thejc.com/arts/theatre-features/31732/the-actress-whos-a-real-life-hamlet

Find out about my work, how I developed my show and why forgiveness and acting has been such an important part of my healing process.

Hope to  see some of you in the audience.

Forgive and Be Free,

Brenda

When Vrinda Pendred (nee Barker) was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at age 7, the doctor failed to notice she had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as well, despite OCD symptoms being a huge part of why her parents had brought her to the doctor in the first place. Even when she was finally diagnosed with OCD at almost 14, Vrinda had no comprehension of how complex and wide-ranging the disorder was, even within herself. Only as an adult did she finally start to understand just how deeply OCD affected her life, mentally, physically, emotionally and socially.

Vrinda’s story is not at all unique. In fact, if there is anything rare about it, it’s that she was diagnosed as young as age 13. Some people don’t discover there’s a name for their intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviour until mid-life. Others are never diagnosed throughout their entire lives, their ‘quirkiness’ remaining a mystery both to themselves and to the people in their lives. We can only imagine the suffering they’ve experienced, struggling through homelife, school and work, feeling misunderstood by teachers, parents, friends and colleagues.

And it’s not just the people who have OCD who are suffering. Think of the frustration and heartache felt by millions of teachers and parents around the world, who watch their students or children struggling with OCD (often undiagnosed), but cannot understand what is happening because these children are too young to express what is going on inside their heads. The sense of helplessness, and even guilt, can be enormous, as they simply do not know what to do to help an OCD child, and are at a total loss as to how to manage or respond to the unusual behaviour and destructive anxieties.

And what is most poignant is the thought that all of this could be avoided – and even treated – if there were more education about the many facets that make up OCD.

And that is what Vrinda Pendred has set out to do. Now 27 years old, and a mother herself, she has merged her two most passionate callings in life: 1) writing and 2) educating the world about neurological conditions, such as OCD. Vrinda has created a unique publishing company called Conditional Publications, whose primary aim is to help push forward this education, by devoting its catalogue to publishing the works of writers with neurological conditions, thus giving a voice to the real experts on these mysterious disorders.

Their first book, Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD, is coming to Amazon  TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 11^th

Put together by 20 writers and artists from around the world, all who have OCD, Check Mates showcases a range of emotions, from love to hate, joy to rage, fear and sorrow to hope and optimism. There’s even a little bit of humour. What it doesn’t do is shy away from the truth. Every angle is covered, no matter how painful, which makes for a startling and moving read.

Whether you’re a parent or teacher of a child dealing with OCD, a therapist or coach of OCD clients, or you have OCD yourself, everyone will find something in this book that speaks to them.

And if you don’t think you know anyone with OCD, have a look around. I think you’ll be surprised (if not shocked) at how many people have it, but are hiding in silence and isolation. This book will open up your eyes, your mind and your heart, and will bring a long overdue healing for many.

And, true to her principles, Vrinda will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every copy of Check Mates to OCD charities, to encourage research and treatment for the condition.

Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD is coming to Amazon  TOMORROW,  Tuesday May 11^th. To show my support of this inspirational new book, I am giving away  a 4 part video tips series about How and Why to Forgive to everyone who buys Check Mates on the day of the launch.

AND… In addition to my gift, there are over 30 other wonderful gifts being offered by mind-body-spirit teachers, authors, coaches and healers from around the planet when you purchase the book on May 11^th.

To find out how you can buy this book on May 11^th
and receive over 30 other gifts, just click HERE

Or copy and paste this link in your browser: http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html

I hope you will join me in celebrating the launch of this unique book, Check Mates, the first ever collection of fiction, poetry and artwork about OCD.

In case you have a strained relationship with your mom I wanted to offer you an exercise that will help bring you relief.

You can do this even after your mom has passed away-if that’s the case.

Watch this short video that shows you why it’s important to forgive your mom’s betrayal and how to start the forgiveness process.

Have a beautiful Mother’s Day.

Forgive and Be Free,

Brenda