The Show, November 12, 2012

(from Tarragon website)

On reading a play by John Mighton you might not be wrong if you said he was an acquired taste. But on stage something happens to his words - alchemy, if you like (though Mighton, a mathematician, would bridle at the term). His play, The Little Years, fits well into the heads of directors and especially well into the mouths of actors. The work has been road-tested at Stratford with the same director who is bringing the piece to Tarragon, Chris Abraham.

Kate, in the 1950s, is told to give up her math and science dreams and to be a good girl. Simply, a person is formed by dreams - both granted and unfulfilled. Kate, as we see over decades, is no exception. Mighton once again proves why he delights. It is germane, here, to site what the jury for his Siminovitch Prize said of him: "His voice has grace, delicacy and a gentle humanity."