Special guests including Amy Brenneman
to lead Talkback Series for The Best Medicine
New comedy starring Caroline Aaron finds
humor amid personal toll of caregiving
November is National Family Caregiver Month
LOS ANGELES (REVISED October 10, 2026) — As National Family Caregiver Month approaches in November, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble has announced a Talkback Series following select performances of The Best Medicine. Written by playwright and bestselling author Robin Gerber and starring Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), The Best Medicine is a new comedy about caregiving, marriage, resilience — and unexpected joy. The production begins previews October 7, opens October 10, and runs through November 15. Special Talkback Series guests include Amber Rollo, Debra Stricklin, Gail Humphries, Dr. Adrienne Keener and Amy Brenneman.
The Talkback Series will follow performances of The Best Medicine on the following dates:
• Friday, Oct. 9: Special guest Amber Rollo, a Los Angeles-based comedian who writes candidly — and with humor — about motherhood and caregiving on her Substack. Rollo draws from her experience becoming a new mother just five days after her husband, writer and podcaster Matthew Christman, suffered a major stroke.
• Friday, Oct. 16: Broadway actor Debra Stricklin, widow of TV and screenwriter Barry Blaustein (Saturday Night Live, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor), who lived with Parkinson’s for a decade before his death from cancer this past summer.
• Sunday, Oct. 25: Artistic consultant, director and teacher Gail Humphries, a specialist in using art, particularly theater, for social change.
• Sunday, Nov. 1: Neurologist Dr. Adrienne Keener and Judy Yaras, founder of Parkinson’s Community Los Angeles.
• Friday, Nov. 6: Comedian Dani Klein Modisett, founder and CEO of Laughter on Call, sending professionally trained facilitators to senior living communities and memory care centers to create genuine human connection through laughter, storytelling, and improv-based programming.
• Sunday, Nov. 8: Actor and political activist Amy Brenneman (NYPD Blue, Judging Amy), who has a special-needs daughter and a mother with Parkinson’s, and is an outspoken advocate for caregivers.
• Saturday, Nov. 14: Cristol Barrett O’Loughlin, founder & CEO at Raregivers™, providing emotional support to families living with rare, chronic and complex diseases — for those rare individuals who hold both hope and grief in the same human heart.
The Best Medicine was inspired by Gerber’s experience caring for her husband, who has Parkinson’s disease. Aaron stars as Rachel, a fiercely independent woman whose husband of 30 years is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, suddenly thrusting her into the role of caregiver and forcing her to confront the loss of the life she knew. Rachel discovers stand-up comedy as a way to cope—and ultimately finds her way back to joy.
The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 477-2055 or go to OdysseyTheatre.com.
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