Costume Designer & Curator
Since Mary is actually the “Mumma” who taught her daughter, Katie, "all about presentation”, she, as our Chief Costumer Designer and Curator, is quite “fitting” (see what we did there?) Mary, affectionately known as Cozzie, is also an artist and print maker. She enjoys poetry, reading, arts and crafts, politics and people. A collector of seashells and small vases, one of the most unusual things in Mary's home is her unique iron window hangings. Sporting her favored chinos and soft sweater, you may find her jammin’ to Chuck Berry or feet up in her favorite Pikolinos, reading “Anam Cara” or “Under The Lilacs”. Fond childhood memories include growing up in Boston and the freedom of being one of three "middle” children. Mary’s best friends are Jinnie Cosgrove, her sister, and Mary Ann Crouse, with her brother Frankie as her hero.
"As an artist who has always been intrigued by the complexities and workings of the human spirit, I love to watch the reactions of people attending the plays. I see people moved to tears, radiant with a new understanding, quietly receiving and being nourished by the love of God. It touches my heart and I am doubly blessed.”
Mary Cosgrove Lane is a second generation born in America, the fifth of Rose Ward and Vincent Cosgrove’s twelve children. Her parents were children of immigrants. She has (had) seven brothers and four sisters and is one of a set of “Irish triplets” with her brothers Vinnie and Frankie and she being just a year apart. These brothers, as well as her sister and best friend Jinnie, are gone now and Mary often feels there is no one left on earth who knows the forces that shaped her and truly knows who she is. Mary often feels their presence but still years for their touch.
Mary grew up in a Boston neighborhood, which was then still very much an enclave of Irish immigrants whose customs and values traveled with them across the wild Atlantic. Her grandparents, and their generation, built schools and churches, formed unions and laid the foundation for a strong political force that produced the first Irish president. Faith and fidelity were their meat and drink; music, politics and debate their dessert. Those genes were passed to Mary and she carries them proudly.
Raised in that Irish Catholic faith community that influenced all aspects of life, Mary attended parochial schools (with the exception of second grade) until she entered Massachusetts College of Art in1958. Mary’s high school was an all-girl school that was known locally as the“nun factory” so you can imagine the liberating effect that art school had on Mary. She is currently the Quaker she feels she was always meant to be.
Mary graduated from Mass. Art in 1962 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. She says she was well educated in the disciplines of art but totally unprepared for the world and the future that lay before her. Mary would describe herself as peculiar, stubborn, forgiving and kind and, sometimes, in trying to “fit in” she says she can be quite the opposite. Can’t we all be?
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NC Address (Mail all correspondence here):
2827 Midway Rd. SE,
STE 106, PMB #227
Bolivia, NC, 28422 • United States
NJ Address:
43 Abe Voorhees Drive, Suite 583
Manasquan, NJ 08736
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(732) 800-2304
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team@playsonword.org
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