A South Whidbey performer and phlebotomist hopes to bring the community together with her multi-media, one-woman show.
After a five-year hiatus, Clinton resident Piper Reva has found her pipes and is ready to take the stage once again. She’s prepared to tell her own journey through grief as she paints, dresses up as various characters, plays music and videos that she has created.
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before,” she said.
Her show “How Are You?” runs one night only, Friday, Nov. 22, at the South Whidbey High School auditorium, located at 5675 Maxwelton Road in Langley. Online pre-sale tickets cost $22 and tickets purchased at the door cost $25. The fun begins at 7 p.m. The show includes a 15-minute intermission, and delectable bites made by Reva’s daughter will be available in the lobby.
In 2020, Reva lost her brother Adam to suicide.
“It absolutely annihilated me and once I could function again, I entered the medical world so I could really help people one-on-one,” she said.
She currently works in the laboratory for a WhidbeyHealth clinic, where she is known as the “singing phlebotomist” who helps people overcome what can be a terrifying 15 minutes. She tries her best to cheer people up during a blood draw with goofy shoes, artwork and her own voice. She intends to expand her medical career by attending nursing school.
All the while, she never stopped being an artist. In fact, she soon plans to share new music, which she described as “electronic” and “dreamy.” This will be her first performance since 2019, when her band Piper and the Planets headlined the Oak Harbor Music Festival.
“This is a labor of love, this is for the love of art, of sharing something very personal with my community in hopes to heal myself and others,” she said.
In her show, Reva plays a whimsical cast of characters, including Fuzzy Leopard Mouse, Mon Cherie Bumble Bee and the TreeHorse, among several others. She interacts with these characters on screen but also plans to dress up as a few of them. It’s all part of her story she wants to convey to the audience, who may remember her “The Wizards of Weepy Isle” performance at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts exactly a decade ago.
“This show is my personal tale of examining and healing through grief, through loss,” she said.
She believes “How Are You?” to be appropriate for those ages 12 and up. Apart from a bottle of vodka and two F-bombs, it’s a clean act.
Expect to laugh, maybe shed a tear as Reva weaves her way around the stage.
“There’s just a lot of sadness in the world, and I want to bring light to the darkness,” she said. “That’s my mission in life.”
For more information, visit onthestage.tickets/show/piper-reva. Donations to further Reva’s schooling can also be made on the website.
