Cuffed & Coiffed

04/01/2026

To top off Women's History Month and the 250th of the Remember the Ladies letter, on Monday I had the pleasure of joining Phillis Wheatley, Mercy Otis Warren, and Martha Washington at for the reception preceding their program "Founding Women: Ideas of Independence." The panel discussion was stimulating, and we got to visit artifacts such as Abigail's letters from the Adams Papers and the hair jewelry she exchanged with Mercy Otis Warren. I have such a cool life!

04/01/2026

Some stills of "An Extraordinary Code of Laws" performed in the John Quincy Adams Birthplace in Quincy, MA for the 250th anniversary of Abigail Adams's "Remember the Ladies" letter, March 29, 2026.

📷

04/01/2026

There are no words to describe how meaningful it was to craft and perform my new play "An Extraordinary Code of Laws" with Adams National Historical Park for the 250th anniversary of Abigail Adams writing "Remember the Ladies." Debuting the program in the Church of the Presidents (the final resting place of Abigail, John, John Quincy, and Louisa Catherine), discussing her life and legacy with an esteemed panel of experts whose work I've studied extensively in the creation of this portrayal, and staging the one-woman show comprised of Mrs. Adams's letters in the house where she wrote them - I don't think I'll ever feel worthy of it all.

As we examine her undoubtedly remarkable fortitude, ingenuity, grace, and intellect,  it is tempting to view her as a singular example of an extraordinary woman in a time and culture where women were barred from being extraordinary. Mrs Adams, however, would caution you from holding any one woman up as an emblem of female accomplishments. “It is a pity,” she once lamented to her cousin John Thaxter, “a mind contracted enough to wish that but one woman in an age might excel, and she only for the sake of a prodigy. What must be that genius which cannot do justice to one lady, but at the expense of the whole s*x?” Let us honor her legacy, then, by remembering all ladies. As Mrs. Adams both preached and practiced: remember the women of the past,  support the women of the present, and build a better world for the women of the future.

03/15/2026

An Extraordinary Code of Laws: Abigail Adams's hopes for a better America in 1776

In the early spring thaw of 1776, Abigail Adams sits alone in her humble Massachusetts home and takes advantage of a rare moment of peace by writing a letter to her husband, John. The trials of the past year have been earth-shattering; the devastating outbreak of war at their doorstep, rampant illness in the community, death in the family, and the longest separation of their marriage to date have all taken their toll. While nothing shy of the return of her partner would truly set her at ease, even anxious Mrs. Adams finds she is not immune to the optimism of spring, a sensation greatly amplified by the evacuation of the British army from Boston earlier in the month. Her mind wanders to Philadelphia, where her dearest friend makes impassioned arguments for American Independence. With the prospect of forging a new government rooted in natural rights and equality on the horizon, Abigail dares to imagine a nation that preserves the dignity, legal rights, and educational opportunities of each individual, regardless of their s*x. Audrey Stuck-Girard portrays this intimate moment in a one-woman show crafted from letters written by Abigail Adams to some of her closest confidants.

“An Extraordinary Code of Laws” premieres as part of Adams National Historical Park’s “Remember the Ladies 250 Symposium: The Life and Legacy of Abigail Adams.” This event will be held at the Church of the Presidents, 1306 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

The play will be performed 4 more times the following day at the John Quincy Adams birthplace, where Abigail Adams penned the “Remember the Ladies” letter 250 years ago.

Sunday, March 29, 2026: 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 2:30 PM at the Adams Farm at Penn’s Hill, 141 Franklin St, Quincy, MA

https://www.nps.gov/adam/planyourvisit/250-anniversary.htm

03/14/2026

Here's another historical performance I have coming up! Next Saturday, 3/21, the Lexington Historical Society is presenting 2 staged readings of "Alarmed in Lexington" by Debbie Weiss at the Hancock-Clarke Parsonage. The events of the play are set in the pre-dawn hours of April 19, 1775, in the very rooms in which we'll be performing.

I'll be playing the role of Reverend Jonas Clarke's wife Lucy, the woman of the house. She generously gave up her bedroom to the visiting members of her high-status family when they arrived earlier in the month, but her patience is wearing thin after almost a fortnight of sleeping in a trundle bed in the alcove with her 10 children.

03/11/2026

Next Tuesday, March 17, I'll be at the Fiske Public Library in Wrentham, MA as Abigail Adams!

The Story of an Ordinary Massachusetts Family Pulled into Extraordinary Service with Abigail Adams

Tuesday, March 17, 6:30-8:00 PM

A minister’s daughter from outside of Boston who married a country lawyer for love, Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) had never imagined herself to be a figure on the national stage. Nonetheless, her self-taught financial savvy, civic intelligence, and patient understanding of human nature provided critical support for her husband, 2nd President John Adams, throughout his lengthy career of public service. A fierce advocate of universal education and the then-novel concept of women’s rights, she reared and inspired her children (including future 6th President, John Quincy Adams) to lead the young nation in defending the notion of liberty for all.

This program is sponsored by the Fiske Library Foundation and is the first of their Revolution 250 speaker series.

03/11/2026

I do so love dressing in my frilliest 1780s gown to fit in with the decor at the John Brown House Museum in Providence, RI. I spent a lovely Saturday chatting with curious guests about tea, porcelain, mote spoons, and global trade in the age of sail. Thanks for hosting me, !

Oh, also I ruined the tea brick myth for at least 5 people, which feels real nice.

02/17/2026

President's Day is a peculiar holiday, but the JFK Library and museum does a fantastic job of illuminating American history through the stories of those who have held the nation's highest office. It's an honor, as it has been every year I've attended, to portray Abigail Adams and turn the country's first Second Lady/ second First Lady into real person for the visitors.

09/29/2025

John and Abigail Adams enjoyed a rare day together on their farm at Penn's Hill this weekend! It truly is such an honor to portray these people and tell their stories in the home they shared.

09/23/2025

Last week I was invited to Huntington, Indiana to portray Abigail Adams in their Constitution Day festivities. Thomas Jefferson (Tom Pitz), John Adams (Michael Lepage) and I performed two different programs and recorded an episode of the local college radio station's podcast. All the 5th graders in the county got a crash course on the themes of 1776, and the next day we brought a multi-generational audience with us to late 1793 to learn why Mr. Jefferson is resigning from Washington's cabinet, less than 5 years into the American experiment.

My journey was complicated by a bad elbow sprain sustained while cleaning my dining room 2 nights before flying out. Not to brag, but this isn't my first time traveling and performing with a serious ortho injury. I also managed to lose my wallet on the airplane. Long story short, I'll be fine (wallet found - nothing stolen/ 8 weeks of PT - no surgery).

Fate and circumstance made the trip tough, but every single human I encountered along the way bent over backwards to make me feel comfortable, welcome, and cared for. I have so many more thoughts about what it meant to undertake this journey and opportunity for historical interpretation during a particularly tumultuous week in the United States. For now, though, I've been reminded that almost all people are very good, none of us knows everything, and everyone is trying very hard to persevere in spite of it all.

07/29/2025

Yesterday afternoon I visited in Marshfield, MA and talked at length about tea in early America - how a tiny dry leaf from the other side of the globe worked its way into the cultural identity of a young nation. As the guests and I chatted, I prepared a few cups of 18th-century tea with my antique teaware and discussed the ways the beverage impacted cultural traditions, global trade, and revolutionary politics in 1700s Massachusetts.

I'm fun at parties, I swear! 🤓