Reeling from the loss of her older sister, local playwright Amy Schwabauer put pen to paper to create her one-woman play, “I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes.” Fresh off its opening weekend at Cleveland Public Theatre, the show runs until Saturday, Dec. 20.

When Amy was born, her older sister Candy was already 19. A self-described “bonus baby,” she grew up in Cleveland surrounded by siblings who were a mix of teens and adults. Like most younger siblings, she looked up to her older ones. She loved hiding in closets and playing with her sisters clothes.

As she got older, her relationship to Candy became more complicated. Candy could be quite difficult and struggled to take care of herself. At the start of the pandemic, Candy was diagnosed with cancer. Amy moved in to take care care of her. Sadly, she died later that year.

“Somewhere in my grief story, I came to recognize that something was really wrong,” Amy said. “Yes, I was experiencing grief but I was also really losing myself.”

The writing process helped Amy come to terms with the more difficult sides of her sister’s personality, as well as her own. It also taught her to have more compassion for Candy.

Like most sisters, just because there was frustration doesn’t mean there wasn’t also so much love. This is a play about grieving complicated people and trying not to get lost in someone else’s story.

“I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes” initially premiered as a more stripped-down production during the 2024 BorderLight Festival, where it won the Audience Choice Award.

Grab your tickets (pay-what-you-will) at Cleveland Public Theatre in Detroit Shoreway. The show runs this Thursday-Monday and next Thursday-Sunday. All performances start at 7 p.m., except Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.