Biographical

Taking Turns Holding On (Monologue)

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Taking Turns Holding On is a deeply personal and often humorous monologue about a long marriage shaped by illness, loss, and resilience. Moving through decades of shared experience, from the heartbreak of stillbirth to cancer, chronic illness, and recovery. It explores how caregiving is never a fixed role, but a lifelong exchange. In the face of … Read more

My Grey Commencement – How my Education Came Full Circle

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On Nov 2, 2023, I went to my commencement at Humber College to receive a Playwright Graduate Certificate. Humber graduated about 2,600 students and celebrated with five ceremonies, so it was me and about 500 other students. I walked into the hall, and the ticket collector directed me toward the audience area. I pointed out that I was one of the graduating students. Her eyes widened and she said, “Oh, OK.” She instructed me to go to the end of the long entry hallway and pick up my gown. Each step was met with a look of surprise by the youthful grads. As we queued in the hall by discipline, I looked around and realized I was the only grey-haired student in the room. While my fellow graduating students were in their 20’s and 30’s, I was 72. They were all fresh faced and excited. I kept looking for a chair so I could sit down, as my hips hurt.

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Summer of 69 Job (Monologue)

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Synopsis: Fresh from his first year of university and confident from prior camp experience, a young Rich Helms takes a summer job as a counsellor at a boys’ camp for inner-city kids near the soon-to-be legendary Woodstock festival. Expecting a routine summer in the woods, he instead encounters culture shock, rough language, unexpected humour, and eye-opening social realities that challenge his assumptions about the world.

Through comic mishaps, awkward first impressions, and unforgettable camp moments — from Ex-lax-laced hot chocolate to watching the moon landing together — the experience becomes both hilarious and formative. By summer’s end, Rich returns home changed, carrying with him new perspective, colourful vocabulary, and a lasting appreciation for how profoundly a single summer job can reshape how you see people and yourself.

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Defining Moments (Monologue)

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Synopsis: In this autobiographical monologue, playwright Rich Helms reflects on the formative experiences that shaped his lifelong curiosity, ambition, and unconventional path. From an intellectually restless childhood obsessed with knowledge, through academic challenges and early breakthroughs in mathematics and computing, he charts the small but pivotal moments that quietly redirected his future.

Blending humour, insight, and personal history, Defining Moments explores how seemingly ordinary events — a librarian’s rule, a classroom challenge, a bold academic gamble, even a job interview — accumulate to define identity. The piece becomes a thoughtful meditation on curiosity, persistence, and the unpredictable moments that steer a life’s trajectory.

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