"My grandma laughed so hard at me," Brooks said. "She patted my hand gently and looked into my eye and said, 'Sarah, you're so lucky to have so many choices. I only had two.'"

As in, wife or secretary.

"I'd never thought about that," Brooks said. "I'd always just thought about how she had had this clear direction and purpose in her life, and had never seemed to waffle. Every day, I try to remind myself to be glad for all these choices."

Such is the journey of Celia Geering, the main character in "Translation," Brooks' new semi-autobiographical, one-woman play. A 31-year-old schoolteacher in Juneau, Geering feels overwhelmed and underachieving. Her perspective begins to change as she travels to Moline, Ill., for the funeral of her grandmother, Lenora.

"The fact that this play is autobiographical is its irony," Brooks said. "In Midwest culture, you keep fears and passions and secrets to yourself - you don't even talk about them to your family members, much less theaters full of strangers."

Chelsea Rohweder, also a language arts teacher at Dzantik'i Heeni, stars as Celia. She was last seen in Perseverance Theatre's production of "The Crucible." This is her first crack at a one-woman play, and a tricky one at that.

"Pacing and clarity are pretty important," Rohweder said. "It needs to be very clear when one character has moved into another.

"That has been a challenge, but we've found ways to make it work," she said. "Luckily for me, (director) John (Leo) has a strong background in physical theater. That has been pretty important for this play, for me, to have that kind of experience."

Brooks, Leo and Ali McKenna add the chorus of voices.

"I could identify with Celia's sense of longing for a deeper sense of self and her journey from way up here in Alaska to be with her (wacked out) family," Leo said.

"I know my parents have mentioned before, 'You have so many possibilities,'" Rohweder said. "And it's great and wonderful, but there's also a part of it that's 'What direction are you going?' I've had a lot of conversations with people my age, late 20s and early 30s, who I wouldn't say are stuck but are definitely trying to find their way."

Brooks was originally working on a one-woman play for Rohweder about a barista who wanted to be an actress. That script died at a reading last November. That same night, Brooks began to read her grandmother's diary. Soon, a new story had taken shape.

"During the rehearsals I was trying to look at (Celia) objectively as a character that could have come from any background," Rohweder said. "But now that Sarah's coming to rehearsals, I'm starting to feel the play through her perspective. And I've definitely been thinking more about how she must be seeing it. That's become very real."

"Translation" is Brooks' first play. The script is now in its 15th draft.

"I'm not an actor," Brooks said. "I'm a writer. I wanted to write a play for my friend Chelsea - that was the genesis of the entire process. And she's been wonderful in the role. I know she's struggled with the autobiographical element of it - how to make it her own but still keep the elements that are so clearly mine.

"Chelsea's so versatile as an actor - creative, physical, capable of comedy and dramatic passion," she said. "I literally felt like I could write anything into the script and she could do it."