Ken Gass Responds to Factory Board Letter, July 31, 2012

KEN GASS RESPONSE TO FACTORY BOARD’S ‘OPEN LETTER’ OF JULY 30/12


[ED: Read the letter to which Mr. Gass is responding]

Well, bravo!  

After blatantly ignoring the 4000 people who signed a petition asking for their resignation and my reinstatement, the board is only now, a month later and as a direct result of the boycott, finally discussing the real issues that led to my firing on June 20^th.   

Okay, there are some major factual errors, misrepresentations and omissions in their ‘open letter’ and I’ll get to these shortly, but still, perhaps this is the beginning of a real town hall, a dialogue in which the wide community is allowed to openly face the nine individual board of directors (none of them artists) who are responsible for the current crisis.  Where the public and Factory’s many stakeholders can hear the full story from all sides and be allowed to weigh in and even help mediate a solution.  It is something I had been asking for repeatedly since March, and I genuinely commend Ron Struys and the board for putting their viewpoint to paper as the first step.

However….

After Dark, July 31, 2012

Evolution
CharPo is not what I planned
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

This week is the first anniversary of our podcast, This Is The CPC. In a month it will be the first anniversary of The Charlebois Post - Canada. In four months The Charlebois Post - Montreal hits two years old. The Charlebois Post - Toronto is a month old and already a huge success. CharPo-Alberta and CharPo-Atlantic Canada are being beta tested and we are examining the feasibility of a CharPo-BC. We have launched a new award aimed at publicists called the CharPR Prize (pronounced "sharper") and are looking into creating an electronic publishing house: CharPoFolio. All this while jumping through hoops towards incorporation.

What the hell am I doing?! How did this happen?!

As I have said before, CharPo Montreal was begun as a response to the lessening coverage of English-language theatre in Montreal (two English-language arts weeklies have died since). It was a simple little blog I went ahead with together with Editor-in-Chief Estelle Rosen.

Open Letter From The Board of Directors of Factory Theatre, July 30, 2012

[Published without comment from the letter sent via e-mail, at 6:32 ET. (Some reformatting required from .pdf)]


July 30, 2012


To our patrons, subscribers, artists, funders, sponsors and the broader Canadian theatre community:
As many of you are aware, a boycott against Factory Theatre was announced on Wednesday, July 25.
This letter represents the position of each of us on the Factory Board and, as a result, it is comprehensive, as we wish to address the following issues as clearly as possible:

•   Ken Gass’ contract termination
    The critical need for physical accessibility and improved artist working conditions
  at Factory Theatre while maintaining the Theatre’s long term financial and
  operational sustainability
  
•   The impact of any boycott on the artists and staff at Factory Theatre and the
  wider community
  
•   How Factory moves forward from here, including a role for Ken

Why I Am Boycotting Factory Theatre by Matthew MacFadzean (actor)

Why I am Boycotting Factory Theatre

When Ken Gass was dismissed, it would make sense for someone like me to say “Aha! Nowʼs our chance! Down with the old guard! Letʼs fill in that position with someone younger and more relevant who will revolutionize this town and bring new art to a new era for Factory.” But I know that wonʼt happen...

by Matthew MacFadzean

I am a grumbler. I donʼt like a lot of shows, donʼt understand why most people are in charge of the theatres theyʼre in charge of, heck itʼs hard to even get me out to see stuff anymore. I think theatre in this town needs an enema. It needs new leadership. It needs change. It needs to return to what theatre once was: an evolving artform, rather than a stale ʻwayʼ of constructing a play: fill out the form, check the right boxes, and give it a nice one word title, hopefully an aspect of the human personality like “Shame” or “Dignity.” People will come. And then they can say they stood up and clapped at a play this season, and the theatres will pat themselves on the back because they “appealed to their subscriber base once again” and the cycle continues. This is Toronto theatre. See? Grumbler. So, following this, when Ken Gass was dismissed, it would make sense for someone like me to say “Aha! Nowʼs our chance! Down with the old guard! Letʼs fill in that position with someone younger and more relevant who will revolutionize this town and bring new art to a new era for Factory.” But I know that wonʼt happen, and realize that Boards think financially, not artistically. Hereʼs what the Board of Factory theatre WILL do. They will hire someone safe and secure (and stupid, given how much the community will demonize them following this mess) who will guarantee a larger subscription base and turn Factory into something “more like Tarragon, if you could please.” But I digress. I did not join this boycott because of my opinion of Toronto theatre.

The Show, July 30, 2012

Phew...we still release a sigh at the utter beauty Chris Gallow's photo from A Midsummer Night's Dream...

With Gemma James-Smith

Yes, this CharPo-Toronto weekly feature is called The Show, but this week we not only want to talk about the annual tradition from Canadian Stage of mounting this loveliest of summer works - a real show it is - but we'd also like to talk about a showman: Gil Garratt, the man flying (as Puck) in Gallow's work above. Garratt is, to our mind, perfect casting in the role of the roguish troublemaker who turns a dozen lives or so into a real night of fun. You don't even have to have seen Garratt on stage to know this: photographers can't resist his physicality. In another highlight of Canadian Stage's season, the difficult (and controversial) Game of Love and Chance, there was Garratt again: all over lucetg's shots of the show.

Back to Midsummer...without a Puck, you don't have a show. The lovers can pine, Bottom can bray, but Puck is the magic. Now, weeks into the run, the magic in High Park should be in place.

Read our review of Midsummer.
Read our review of Game of Love and Chance

The Story on Sunday: Aria Umezawa on Opera 5

Opera with a Twist

Introducing Opera Five 

by Aria Umezawa

Opera Five is set to change opera as you know it. As a new Toronto-based troupe, Opera Five is ready to challenge your senses – all five of them – with compelling takes on classic stories. 

IT’S OPERA WITH A TWIST

Opera Five’s performance arts company follows new industry directions: We’re making opera accessible, we create powerful, emotional experiences and we’re advancing the limits of our art form in imaginative, thought-provoking ways. We’ve already seen this move toward a more user-friendly experience with current trends favouring cheaper tickets, under 30s-themed events and innovative venue options in bars, subway cars and pop-up operas in parks. By re-envisioning classic stories in modern spaces, opera is now resonating with new groups of people. 

Why I Am Boycotting Factory Theatre by Andrew Moodie (playwright/actor/director)

Why I am Boycotting Factory Theatre

The current Board fired Ken because his plans for the theatre were ambitious. That's not the reason to fire an Artistic Director.
by Andrew Moodie (playwright/actor/director) 


I've been asked to write about why I've joined the boycott against the Factory Theatre Board. I'll start with the reasons why I'm not boycotting the Factory theatre board. 1) I'm not boycotting to hurt artists. I encourage everyone to go to a SummerWorks show at the Factory. And I am hoping this will be resolved before the season starts so that actors and playwrights can get paid the pittance they need to live. 2) I'm not boycotting the Factory because Ken gave me a job, or Ken has promised me work. He is a friend, but I'm friends with many people, and that in itself is not enough for me to boycott the Factory. Nor has Ken asked me to. He hasn't asked for anything, and if you know anything about me, you'd know that I don't do things like this just because someone asks. 

The reasons why I am boycotting the Factory: 

EVENT: Aneemah's Spot (SummerWorks)

First Person: Sam Mullins (Tinfoil Dinosaur) on the thing he's glad he's leaving behind at Toronto Fringe...

It always starts with a poster sprint.
by Sam Mullins

It always starts with the poster sprint.


It shouldn’t.  But it does.

I suppose it is an undeniably brilliant opportunity for photos.  

I mean, just think: 

Theatre artists have come from all over North America and the world to perform their art here - in the heart of Canada’s largest cultural centre.  They have meticulously written and rewritten their pieces for months, as they spent their days slaving away at their awful day jobs.  They have sacrificed all of their money and time trying to breathe life into these plays.  Just to have a chance for their work to be recognized.  To be seen.  To be appreciated.  To be validated as a piece of work that is capable of enhancing the human experience.  As something that can touch people.

And here we are.  All together for the first time.  Insecure about our work, and about how we will be received here in Toronto.

Theatre For Thought, July 28, 2012

MARRIAGE AND THE SHREW

joel fishbane

A war over Taming of the Shrew has been waged over in the comments section of the Montreal edition of CharPo, for which I’m infinitely grateful. Those who know me know I detest The Merchant of Venice, not because of the anti-Semitism but because of the poor craftsmanship – simply put, it’s a badly-made play. Shrew doesn’t quite suffer from this problem: it has its problems but the real dilemma lies in the subject matter. The story of a man named Petruchio who “cures” Kate, the titular shrew, cannot help but provoke strong opinions. Time and again, productions either ignore the uncomfortable material or attempt to distract us from it with theatrical wizardry and a comedian’s bag of tricks.

We may think that the controversy surrounding Shrew is a late 20th century phenomenon but apparently it’s been raising ire ever since it first hit the stage. In 1888, with the women’s movement on the rise, George Bernard Shaw made his own thoughts known in the Pall Mall Gazette: “Having been told that the Daly Company has restored Shakespeare’s version to the stage,” he wrote, “I desired to see with my own eyes whether any civilized audience would stand its brutality… I hope all men and women who respect one another will boycott Taming of the Shrew until it is driven off the boards.”

Why I Am Boycotting Factory Theatre by Tony Nappo

Why I Am Boycotting Factory Theatre
Was Ken Gass' plan a good one? A realistic one? A financially possible one? I don't know and I don't give a fuck. It's his theatre.
by Tony Nappo (actor)

Gaëtan asked me to write a few words explaining why I agreed to sign the petition to boycott The Factory Theatre in Toronto and I am happy to respond as I know that this publication speaks to folks outside of Toronto, who likely do not know me personally or many of the other members of the community who signed as well.

Let me say, clearly, that I do not speak for anyone but myself. I have been saying that a lot, lately, on the pages of Facebook and whatnot, as this issue has become a very polarizing one in Toronto and I personally never signed up to be a recruiting officer or to be a divisive force in the community. At the same time, this was not a scenario where I could sit idly by and wait to see what happened. For myself, and for many, this is not just an artists vs. "the Board" scenario, it is a human one.

Review: The Sunshine Boys

Welsh (l) and Peterson (photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann)

Talent Crush!

Sunshine at Soulpepper amid reflections on passing time

by Cassie Muise

I have always had a bit of a crush on everything Soulpepper. From the Distillery District, to the Young Centre, to the founding members – who doesn’t love Ted Dykstra’s Two Pianos Four Hands? Albert Schultz in The Odd Couple = talent crush! – so I was excited to get the chance to see their production of Sunshine Boys. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint my high expectations. Off the top the smooth, warm lighting transitions, ukulele and harmonica music, paired with the clean, flawless set bring the audience into the world of the play effortlessly. 

Real Theatre! July 27, 2012

Why I Was Fired From The Factory Theatre by Ken Gass

by Ken Gass (© Ken Gass, 2012)

On Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 5:00 p.m., I was summoned into Board member Michael Wolfish’s downtown law office on the 12^th floor of the firm Fogler, Rubinoff  on Wellington Street near University Ave.  Ushered into a corporate meeting room, I sat across the table from Ron Struys, President of Factory’s Board, and Bev Simonsen, co-chair with Michael of the HR committee.  As Ron looked at me with a large manila envelope under his folded arms, it was clear what was about to happen.  “The Board has made a decision.”  My position as Artistic Director, which I had held for 15½ years, was terminated effective immediately.   Aside from the stipulated nine-months severance in my previous contract, I would be offered a one-year, possibly renewable, part-time position as Artistic Director Emeritus to help them with operating and capital fundraising as required.  My annual ‘salary’ would be $15,000, and I had seven days to accept their terms.  They also offered counselling services from a psychotherapist to help me with my ‘transition’.  

Wolfish described the ‘package’ as a carrot and a stick.  If I broke the confidentiality of these negotiations or said anything negative about the theatre or the Board, they would suspend or claw back the severance payments.  I was ordered not to return to the theatre premises except under their direct supervision to retrieve my personal effects, nor to be in contact with any Factory staff or Board directors other than Simonsen.  While they promised a press release honouring my accomplishments, I informed them immediately that we would not be calling this anything other than what it was.  This was not ‘re-structuring’ or voluntary semi-retirement; I had been fired by the Board of Directors and it would be a miracle if we could concur on the wording of a joint press release.   I was calm and polite during the 15-minute event, but as I left I told them their actions were “despicable.”  At the elevator, realizing I had left my laptop at the theatre, I told Ron I’d go and retrieve it after the staff had left.  Surely they realized I wasn’t going to trash their computers.  They agreed.  

Artists who have joined the Factory Theatre boycott

This list was current as of July 22. Note that two of the people on the list, Judith Thompson and George F. Walker, have plays announced in the current season.

Maja Ardal Tom Barnett  Nancy Beatty Morwyn Brebner  Leah Cherniak  Layne Coleman Sean Dixon  Atom Egoyan  David Ferry Barry Flatman Florence Gibson Dean Gilmour Kyra Harper Deb Hay  Michael Healey  Martha Henry

Fiona Highet Janelle Huchison Maggie Huculak Stuart Hughes  Brooke Johnson C. David Johnson Arsinee Khanjian Janet-Laine Green  Janet Land  Michelle Latimer  Diana LeBlanc Paul Ledoux  Patricia Ludwick  Kate Lynch Ross Manson Matthew McFadzean

Seana McKenna  John Mighton  Andrew Moodie  Tony Nappo  Lisa Norton  Rebecca Picherak Gordon Pinsent  Rena Polley Irene Poole Miles Potter Michael Redhill Fiona Reid Maria Ricossa Erika Ritter  Lloyd & Nancy Robertson  Rick Roberts

John Roby Dani Romain  Booth Savage Tyrone Savage Lora Senechal Carney  Jason Sherman  Pamela Sinha  Michelle Smith  Tim Southam  Judith Thompson RH Thomson  Kristen Thomson Maria Vacratsis Patricia Vanstone  George F. Walker Trudy Weiss  Ron White

Picture of the Week, July 26, 2012

Although Cylla von Tiedemann's work is always terrific, and we always have trouble finding one image out of the many, this one from The Sunshine Boys at Soulpepper we are especially fond of. Not only does it feature two of the best actors in the nation (Eric Peterson and Kenneth Welsh), it also tells us a little of this story of two Vaudevillians who despise each other and must get back together again for one brief performance and for history's sake.

The Vid, July 25, 2012

The trailer from the original production of the Beatles musical, Backbeat, now playing in the city, brought here by the Mirvishes.

After Dark, July 24, 2012

I Know I'm Right
Reviewers, artists and the gray in between
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

As I walk the dog I listen to podcasts both to relax me and to feed my writing. There are three in particular: This American Life, WTF and Analog Hole. As I've said elsewhere, Marc Maron on WTF has turned out interview after interview that is personal, funny, and truthful with a wide variety of celebrities. Last week he did one with Fiona Apple.

Apple was talking about the insanity around her first album and tour and Maron asked her how she dealt with it all - the adulation, the critics. "I don't read reviews," she answered, "because I know I'm right."

The Show, July 23, 2012

Albert Narracott (Alex Furber) and Joey as a foal (Patrick Kwok-Choon, Rahnuma Panthaky, Mairi Babb). Photo by Brinkhoff / Mögenburg

[Publisher's note: today we are beginning a new weekly feature on The Charlebois Post - Toronto: The Show. Each Monday we will be drawing your attention to a production that is playing, is in previews, or is about to open which we think deserves just a little more attention. Our first choice may strike some as odd, but as the piece enters its last months of performances, it merits a second look. Enjoy The Show]

War Horse
There is a very funny story surrounding war horse which will certainly enter the mythos of modern theatre. Just prior to opening War Horse in London, at the National Theatre where it was created, the powers that be in the house were almost certain that the production was about to lose millions.

The Story On Sunday: In defence of Legally Blonde

In defence of Legally Blonde and the contemporary musical

by Stuart Munro

Legally Blonde: The Musical is, I think, one of the most misunderstood musicals to have been written in the last decade or so. Its Broadway run was entirely too brief (roughly18 months), and failed to win any awards. However, its London run did significantly better, running for over two years and even winning the Olivier (the West End’s equivalent to the Tony) for best new musical. It seems the British were able to understand what the Americans weren’t: Legally Blonde is a musical worth noting. Back in March I saw the Lower Ossington Theatre’s production of Legally Blonde. My review was unkind, and at one point the theatre actually asked the editors at CharPo to remove the names of some of the people whose work I had spoken so harshly about. Looking back, I think my tone may have been a bit mean, but it was an honest reaction to a complete disappointment. You see, Legally Blonde is one of my favourite shows and I had seen it butchered in front of my eyes. In the weeks that followed, I listened to the Broadway and London cast recordings a lot, and found myself wondering why I loved this show so much. Had it simply been that the production and the performances from the MTV broadcast had captivated me? Possibly, but I’d enjoyed the tour of the show when it made its way through Toronto in 2010 just as much, even with its brutally pared-down design. No. What I love about Legally Blonde is how strong the material actually is, how gleefully it gently mocks the fact it’s a musical, and yet how perfectly it uses the genre to tell its story.

Theatre For Thought, July 21, 2012

MONTREALERS AT THE BAT

joel fishbane

The Montreal English theatre community took a step towards glory this past Sunday with the first annual softball tournament, organized by the Quebec Drama Federation.

Eight teams battled it out at Laurier Park from sunrise until sundown where independent companies like Theatre Ste. Catherine and Sidemart Theatrical Grocery battled professional heavyweights like the Segal Centre and Geordie Theatre. Softball is not for the faint of heart, something which plenty of actors learned the hard way. Pulled muscles, scrapes and bruises abounded that day, with Dean Fleming, Geordie Theatre’s crackerjack artistic director, putting himself on the injured list halfway through the day.

QDF handed out several awards at the end of the day, including a Miss Congeniality Award to Geordie Theatre and the MVP Award going to Lynn Cosack of Scapegoat Carnivale. A spirit award also went to the newly created Metachroma Theatre – they didn’t have a team but they were the most colorful cheerleaders a softball tournament had ever seen (actor / director Mike Payette looked particularly fetching in a grass skirt.)

Review: Speed-the-Plow

Ari Cohen and Jorden Pettle (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)

Soulpepper's Males

Mamet's people

by Zoë Erwin-Longstaff

From F. Scott Fitzgerald, to Norman Mailer, to David Mamet himself, many a serious writer has gone to Hollywood to pay the bills and then tried to create art out of the spoils.  Speed-the-Plow, Mamet’s riveting three-hander contends with the film industry’s ever-present contradiction between art and the box office.  This play, and indeed Soulpepper’s production, does what Mamet does best: lays bare the jousting/jesting relationships between male co-workers and rivals.  And so we meet Bobby and Charlie, colleagues and competitors, in a Hollywood studio which has just elevated producer Bobby into a position where he might for once attempt to rise above the usual schlock.  This threatens erstwhile friend and co-worker, Charlie, who, swallowing his humiliation after being passed over, has just brought his rival a sure-fire prison-buddy script, with a hotshot Director thrown in for good measure. 

CharPo's Real Theatre! July 20, 2012

Picture Of The Week, July 19, 2012

Tara Grammy in her own Mahmoud, coming back from the Fringe

in the fest's Best Of series. 

SummerWorks 2012 Index

Inside The Fringe

Tidbits from Inside The Machine
One house, the heat, the rain and dealing with two hits
by Beat Rice

This summer marks my third year working as Front of House Manager for the Toronto Fringe Festival. It was a great year of meeting new people, working with people you only see during the Fringe, and running into old pals. 

Every year there has been a heat warning and - until this year - no rain. I was lucky enough to have shifts that happened around the rain. I was also lucky enough to have an amazing plethora of volunteers everyday and wonderful enthusiastic patrons come to see shows at my venue. I still can’t get over how many people were willing to line up for hours in the nasty smoggy weather for a show! The unknowing passerby might wonder if there was an early screening of the new Batman movie. At my venue there was one particular show which won both Patron’s Pick AND Best of the Fringe; I had people lining up to purchase tickets at the door 3 hours before they went on sale. Once they purchased their ticket they would wait another hour in the ticket holders line. 

The Vid

In honour of the end of the Toronto Fringe, this video from one of the hottest tickets at the Fest, it's the team from pomme is french for apple

(Read our 5-charpie review of their Fringe show)

After Dark, July 17, 2012

Screen grab of Anita Sarkeesian in a video "game"

Do we need feminism?
How a discussion on video games should make us reflect on theatre.
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

Gloria Steinem once wrote that it is important to say you are a feminist, especially if you are a man. So let me start right there: I consider myself a feminist. I was an activist for women's rights before I was vaguely involved in the Queer movement. I read Germaine Greer's Female Eunuch when I was 14 and my world lit up. As I joined theatre, this feminism was very finely tuned and expressed itself in my work - well into my time as a critic.

I bring all this up, this week, because a young writer, Stephanie Guthrie, made the gross "error" of drawing attention to a hideous video game that invited players to beat up feminist media activist Anita Sarkeesian. Ms Guthrie also noted that the game's designer was a Canadian and she identified him (as he was using a nom-de-créateur). I followed a subsequent Twitter-assault on Ms Guthrie that actually ended up with death-threats from a soi-disant sharp-shooter. 

Fringe Blog: The No Bull$#!% History of Canada - Finale

Leaving Toronto aka sadface emoticon
Part 6 - Finale
by Kyle Allatt

W00t!  The tour is done, now I can go home.  And/or boo-urns, the tour is done, now I have to go home.  There is always a bittersweet feeling to the end of a show’s run, even more so when you’re on tour.  I’m tired, but I’m elated.  I’m proud, yet I’m bummed.

By all accounts the show was a success.  We had tons of people come out to see it, sold out a few shows, got some great reviews and made it onto at least 3 media’s top picks lists.  Final show was sold out, had a killer house and I got all emotional and partially weepy saying my thanks to everyone at the end.

Fringe Blog: The No Bull$#!% History of Canada - Part 5

A Taste of Theatre
Part 5
by Kyle Allatt

Now that I’ve had a chance to check out a few Fringe shows, I figured it might be fun to throw some quickie reviews at y’all.  a) Because this is after all a review site b) because I’m a bit at a loss for blog content unless you wanna hear about how I was bitched out by a Streetcar operator and/or other scintillating stories of public transit woes.

Editor's Note:  Kyle Allatt is not a fully accredited review writer.  His experience in this matter is limited to writing a letter to the producers of the Transformers cartoon of the 1980s when he was 8 and telling them it was “totally cool” and that they should “do more stuff with Starscreme [sic]”.

Actually Editor's Note:  Hey wait, I didn't write that.  In fact, I'm not sure I'm the actual editor either.  Oh man, this is getting meta.

Theatre For Thought, July 14, 2012

KILLING THE THINGS WE LOVE

joel fishbane

It’s long been a truth that the only thing worse than having your work forgotten is having it remembered. Poor Shakespeare finds this out every summer: his work is abridged for performances without the editors ever acknowledging their crime. Now George Gershwin’s ghost has to suffer too. The famed composer of the Jazz Age is experiencing a renaissance - of sorts. It began with a revamped version of the opera, Porgy and Bess  currently playing in New York. Dubbed “The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess”, the title implicitly dismisses the contribution of co-lyricist / librettist Dubose Heyward (the other author was George’s brother Ira). The show has also been changed, rendering the title both rude and inaccurate. For better or worse, this Porgy and Bess isn’t the one Heyward and the Gershwins left behind.

I’m not the only one who was incensed: theatre icon Stephen Sondheim penned a notorious condemnation for the NY Times. So far Sondheim has stayed silent about the other “honours” being heaped on Gershwin this year. First there’s the “new” musical based on Gershwin tunes that hit Broadway in the spring starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara, Nice Work if you Can Get It is an attempt to recapture the magic found in Crazy for You back in 1992.  Then there’s the scandal happening across the pond. With the European copyright of Gershwin’s music expired, composer / lyricist Leslie Bricusse has announced he’s writing lyrics to famed orchestral pieces like Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris. With typical understatement, the Guardian reported the Gershwin estate is “not supportive”.

CharPo's Real Theatre! July 13, 2012

THE FACTORY THEATRE CRISIS (INDEX)

Review: Life in the Raw (Fringe)

by Dave Ross

Life in the Raw from Thick and Thin Theatre Productions was a welcome respite for me. I’ve been seeing comedy pretty much exclusively, and this story of a family in 1930s Montreal couldn’t be farther from that. The script (Barbara Larose) is very strong, with a minimum of extraneous material. The story itself is a painful one: very little food for the table, a prideful father, and a mother dying of cancer. 

The performances are for the most part solid. Denise Norman does an excellent, fretful Kathleen who will do anything for her daughters, while Rick Jones’s William is a perfect counterpart to her. The daughters are the focus of the story, with Faith (Rielle Braid), Nellie (Kaitlin Lane) and Hope (Brianne Tucker) doing everything they can to care for their ailing mother while trying to advance hopes and dreams of their own. Special mention goes to Lane as Nellie. Her character experiences significant growth and change, and Lane executes this effortlessly. The entire cast has to sing, and all of them are strong vocally. A small quibble with the music is that the libretto doesn’t seem to match the music rhythmically in places, leading to what feels like run-on musical sentences with the emphasis falling on odd syllables. As a musician, I found this a touch jarring, but it’s a minor thing. There is no set designer credited in the program, but it was a versatile, unobtrusive set.

This is a strong show. It is definitely done in the raw, sparing no emotion as it tells its tale. Like most Fringe shows, it could use a bit of a polish, but it does remarkably well still.  If you’re looking to see a musical that deals with some heavy subject matter, this is the show for you. 

Tickets

Rating: