Let's talk about breasts in Fort Myers show

Amy Marcs calls herself a very private person. And yet here she is, night after night, talking to strangers about her breasts.

Marcs can hardly believe it herself, sometimes. And neither can her friends.

“Even a lot of people I know had no idea about what I went through until they saw my play,” says the New York City playwright and actor. “For some reason it is easier for me to express myself onstage.”

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Marcs’ one-woman show visits Fort Myers this weekend at the Alliance for the Arts. And, once again, she'll be talking about her roller-coaster experience with breast cancer, a double mastectomy, and its effects on her femininity and self-confidence.

“It is a reconstructive comedy about hope, love and the resiliency of the human spirit,” she says.

There’s some heavy stuff in the play, but also lots of laughs. Just check out the tongue-in-cheek title: “Nice T!ts.”

“Laughter gives us room to breathe and is extremely healing,” Marcs says. “Humor has gotten me through some of the darkest times in my life.”

The play got its start while Marcs was healing from her double mastectomy and began journaling about her experience.

“It was extremely helpful for me to express everything I was feeling and to write it out while not having to censor any of my thoughts,” she says. “My friends and family were all so loving and supportive, but none of them had any idea how I actually felt or what I was going through.

“How do you talk about losing a part of your body that you love — or, as I say in my play, that many others have loved — especially a part of your body that has a direct impact on your sexuality and femininity?”

At the same time, Marcs was dealing with her own mortality and thinking a lot about her mother, who died of breast cancer at age 51 — just a month after Marcs’ 17th birthday.

“Writing became my therapy, my medicine,” she says. “I didn’t know at the time that I would turn this into a one-woman show. All I knew was that I needed to write.

“I am an actress and acting teacher, and I know firsthand how art truly has the power to transform and heal.”

Marcs hopes that healing goes both ways and affects the audience, too.

“It is my hope to be of service to others,” she says. “To help people talk about things that are not always so easy to talk about. To start the difficult and uncomfortable conversations. To help women know that they are still beautiful, feminine, vibrant and sexy even after a cancer diagnosis and undergoing a double mastectomy.

“Life is hard. Life can be challenging. But we have the strength to make it through. I hope that my show helps people see that.”

“Nice T!ts” plays at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday with 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday. Peter Michael Marino directs.

The show takes place in the Foulds Theater at the Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. Tickets are $24 ($11 for students).

For more information, call 939-2787 or visit ArtInLee.org.

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