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In Bottle Neck, by Michaela Sheldon, we see a young woman, her mom and a friend each bringing their own perspectives to the challenging topic of mental illness, while Connecting Rooms: A Tribute by Florence Button offers the perspectives of a wide range of women across multiple time periods who experienced the Labrador fishery.
While the topics and approaches from these playwrights couldn’t be more different, both plays are built around strong and compelling characters. It was interesting and exciting to see two scripts in development and imagine the possibilities as these plays move from reading and workshopping to performance.
While currently less than 30 minutes in length, Bottle Neck is set up to become a five-act play. The set also promises to be a fun one for any set designer, as the central mother and daughter are living in a hoarded house. As Brianna (charmingly portrayed by Cheney Emberg) and her mother Cordelia open the lines of communication and clear the air, one can imagine that the space also would phyisically “clear up.” I was impressed by Bailey Jackson’s reading of Cordelia – a challenging role to portray. As anyone who has suffered from depression will recognize, there’s the person you show to the outside world and the one that lives within. Playing a person playing a personality ain’t easy; this will be an exciting role for any actress, and I encourage you to keep building on that dichotomy, Michaela!
It is clear from the current draft that each of the main characters can have an excellent opportunity for growth, change and understanding in a full-length play. As Brianna opens up to her mom and friend Stephanie (Lonni Patey) about how the living conditions are impacting her life, Cordelia begins to understand how her hoarding behaviours began. There are also excellent opportunities to develop the Stephanie character – that friend who really wants to help but is challenged to understand, not all problems are fixable with a can of furniture polish. I hope seeing her play performed and getting feedback from audiences helps this talented young playwright clear any “bottlenecks” on the road to the stage for this promising play.
After an intermission, night two continued with a dramatic reading of Connecting Rooms: A Tribute. Playwright Florence Button has a gift for dialogue; she brilliantly captured the authentic sound of outport Newfoundland – in particular Carbonear – and there were some really funny and moving moments in this 90-minute play. She also did a wonderful job portraying Maude, a housekeeper and cook working out of the ‘rooms’ on the south east coast of Labrador. The small stage was jam packed with performers, each telling their Labrador experience through a series of dramatic monologues. Congratulations to Sarah Southwell, Ava Porter, Carloyn Pike, Michaela Sheldon, Robyn Pike, Emma Hewitt, Loretta Oates, Lonni Patey, George Robertson, Josh Gover and Florence.
I was left wondering how this play would be staged, and my friend and I debated options to bring the stories to life the whole way home. Who are the women talking to? Each other? Themselves? Has some outside catalyst brought their stories to life? Would they interact? The performance began with a dramatized scene then moved into the series of monologues. I would encourage the playwright to consider how some of those solo stories could be told through dialogue, really bringing the stories alive!
Ok. I’ll admit it. This is the not the first time I’ve been listening to a bit of provincial history in a play and been shocked by my own lack of awareness about something I should know more about. Of course women worked alongside men in the fishery. Of course mothers took their kids out of school and moved lock, stock and barrel – using less than ideal transportation systems -hundreds of miles away for months at a time. Of course. But why don’t we know more about it?
Because we don’t talk about it, celebrate it, and raise it up.
I look forward to more “herstory” and personal awareness opportunities as the week continues.…But not tonight night. Sure, that’s all about The Importance of Being Foolish, written and performed by two small but mighty provincial icons, Amy House and Berni Stapleton. See you at Lady Mackerel’s Retirement Home for Lesser Known Actors at 7 p.m. Thursday night. Bring your sense of humour and your walkers.
While the topics and approaches from these playwrights couldn’t be more different, both plays are built around strong and compelling characters. It was interesting and exciting to see two scripts in development and imagine the possibilities as these plays move from reading and workshopping to performance.
While currently less than 30 minutes in length, Bottle Neck is set up to become a five-act play. The set also promises to be a fun one for any set designer, as the central mother and daughter are living in a hoarded house. As Brianna (charmingly portrayed by Cheney Emberg) and her mother Cordelia open the lines of communication and clear the air, one can imagine that the space also would phyisically “clear up.” I was impressed by Bailey Jackson’s reading of Cordelia – a challenging role to portray. As anyone who has suffered from depression will recognize, there’s the person you show to the outside world and the one that lives within. Playing a person playing a personality ain’t easy; this will be an exciting role for any actress, and I encourage you to keep building on that dichotomy, Michaela!
It is clear from the current draft that each of the main characters can have an excellent opportunity for growth, change and understanding in a full-length play. As Brianna opens up to her mom and friend Stephanie (Lonni Patey) about how the living conditions are impacting her life, Cordelia begins to understand how her hoarding behaviours began. There are also excellent opportunities to develop the Stephanie character – that friend who really wants to help but is challenged to understand, not all problems are fixable with a can of furniture polish. I hope seeing her play performed and getting feedback from audiences helps this talented young playwright clear any “bottlenecks” on the road to the stage for this promising play.
After an intermission, night two continued with a dramatic reading of Connecting Rooms: A Tribute. Playwright Florence Button has a gift for dialogue; she brilliantly captured the authentic sound of outport Newfoundland – in particular Carbonear – and there were some really funny and moving moments in this 90-minute play. She also did a wonderful job portraying Maude, a housekeeper and cook working out of the ‘rooms’ on the south east coast of Labrador. The small stage was jam packed with performers, each telling their Labrador experience through a series of dramatic monologues. Congratulations to Sarah Southwell, Ava Porter, Carloyn Pike, Michaela Sheldon, Robyn Pike, Emma Hewitt, Loretta Oates, Lonni Patey, George Robertson, Josh Gover and Florence.
I was left wondering how this play would be staged, and my friend and I debated options to bring the stories to life the whole way home. Who are the women talking to? Each other? Themselves? Has some outside catalyst brought their stories to life? Would they interact? The performance began with a dramatized scene then moved into the series of monologues. I would encourage the playwright to consider how some of those solo stories could be told through dialogue, really bringing the stories alive!
Ok. I’ll admit it. This is the not the first time I’ve been listening to a bit of provincial history in a play and been shocked by my own lack of awareness about something I should know more about. Of course women worked alongside men in the fishery. Of course mothers took their kids out of school and moved lock, stock and barrel – using less than ideal transportation systems -hundreds of miles away for months at a time. Of course. But why don’t we know more about it?
Because we don’t talk about it, celebrate it, and raise it up.
I look forward to more “herstory” and personal awareness opportunities as the week continues.…But not tonight night. Sure, that’s all about The Importance of Being Foolish, written and performed by two small but mighty provincial icons, Amy House and Berni Stapleton. See you at Lady Mackerel’s Retirement Home for Lesser Known Actors at 7 p.m. Thursday night. Bring your sense of humour and your walkers.
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