‘I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes’ brings grief and humor to Cleveland Public Theatre

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In the early months of the pandemic, when theaters went dark and the world pressed pause, playwright and actor Amy Schwabauer packed up her life and moved in with her older sister.

In 2020, her sister Candy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Schwabauer, suddenly without a show to put on and working her part-time job remotely, stepped in as her sister’s caregiver. Candy died later that year at 50. Schwabauer was 32.

That experience inspired “I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes,” a solo play that mixes grief and humor in an autobiographical story about love, loss and the complicated bonds between sisters. Written and performed by Schwabauer, it runs Dec. 4–20 at Cleveland Public Theatre , its first full production after a bare‑bones premiere at the 2024 BorderLight Thea