Real places.
Human moments.
Photographs and accounts from three Westport community events.
Westport Country Playhouse
A story about loneliness. A table for connection.
During the Westport Country Playhouse’s run of Primary Trust - the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Eboni Booth, a story about loneliness and the way small acts of kindness can change a life - Lisette and Leonie brought their idea to the people it was built for. In the lobby, a yellow-covered table held Professor Juju, framed explanations and QR codes. Visitors photographed everyday objects and watched Professor Juju answer with a kindness idea made for that moment - then put the phone away and acted.
Beth Huisking of the Playhouse introduced the girls and shared a physical Kindness Jar, inviting people to appreciate those around them. Her verdict, in the Playhouse video:
“The app is fabulous.”
Audience members lingered after the show, sharing stories about isolation and how difficult making connections can become with age. A caretaker from the Norwalk Senior Center took flyers back to residents who could benefit.
“I shared a smile with a stranger and it felt like a real connection. Professor Juju’s prompts are so sweet and fun.”
Westport Dog Festival
Finding kindness in a community celebration.
Two weeks after the Playhouse, the same table stood in the middle of the Westport-Weston Chamber’s 10th annual Dog Festival. Families moved from one activity to the next; at the girls’ tent, children and parents stopped around the table, balloon animals in hand. All day the see-an-object exercise ran with whoever wandered up - kids, parents, festival-goers between events, the twins walking them through it. Kindness did not need a special room or a formal lesson; it could begin in the middle of an ordinary community day.
The next morning, the Chamber’s own events coordinator wrote to say what the day had really been made of:
“They encouraged me to take a step back and smile and observe the many kind acts that went into making our 10th annual Dog Festival such a success!”
Rotary Great Duck Race
Bringing more joy and kindness to the world.
At the Westport Sunrise Rotary’s Great Duck Race - a beloved town tradition and community fundraiser - children approached the tent with parents beside them and balloon animals in hand, and families gathered around the table all day while the demo ran in the open. The team took part in a spirit of cooperation, sharing Rotary’s own aim of bringing more joy and kindness to the world. The girls’ work was part of the day rather than apart from it: a way for kindness to become something people could do together, in a familiar community setting.
No classroom. No script. Three times, in the real life of one town, strangers stopped, photographed an object, received a kind idea, put the phone away - and smiled. Smart technology is only the start; then the phone goes away and the real connection begins.