It’s hard to say how profoundly I was effected by last night's performance of Fun Home by Stage Center. I was honestly speechless by its end, trying to process the things I had been led to feel. It was a perfect storm of powerful story, intimate setting, and some of the most magical performances I’ve seen:

Mary Kate McLaurine's grown, narratorial version of the author, Alison Bechdel, haunting the stage with a mature desire for truth and a palpable, confused anguish. The hope and heartbreak she communicated as she sang "Telephone Wire" trying to engage her father in a shared truth, knowing it wasn't to be, was stunning.

Aubrey Buckner as Middle Alison, so wonderfully embodied the struggle of a fearful young woman, feeling utterly out of place in the world, emerging into a freeing truth she wasn't sure was possible. Her rendition of “Changing My Major” was so joyful for the hope, life and passion Ms. Buckner brought to it.

Lauren Matthews as Young Alison, struggling with wanting to be the self she felt she was, but not knowing what that meant, especially as her father bullied her into a mold similar to the one destroying him. When she stood in front of us, just feet away, singing "Ring of Keys" about the wonder of seeing someone real in the world embodying the things she felt about herself, the bright smiles, the shy foot shuffling, the coy glances away, it was impossible to imagine a performance any more perfect than she delivered, and I will treasure my experience of it.

There was much more to the musical, all of it amazing, but the way these three ladies told the story of a woman trying to come to grips with her relationship to the world and her father was stunning, heartbreaking, and truly beautiful.