Marion Bridge Where Past and Present Jostle for Forgiveness - theHumm February 2020
Marion Bridge Where Past and Present Jostle for Forgiveness - theHumm February 2020
By Heddy Sorour
Studio Theatre Perth’s upcoming production promises a heart-warming evening of discovery. Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor is a humorous and touching story about the power of realization and how it heals more than it harms.
“It’s a drama, with lots of comic moments. They’re amusing characters and the language is amusing and clever and it just flows,” enthuses director Barb Guthrie.
The play is about three sisters in their thirties who congregate at their childhood “home” on the East Coast to be with their dying mother. There’s the flamboyant and alcoholic under-employed actress, the nun, and the soap opera addict. Each in her own way tries to deal with the loneliness of the lives they are leading.
“It’s a very well written play — it feels very natural when we deliver the lines,” says Annie West, who plays the soap opera addict and youngest sibling Louise. An experienced actor, West says this role has been a welcome challenge for her.
The quality of the writing is a constant theme among the cast. “Daniel MacIvor is such a great writer. He makes it easy,” says Anne-Marie Lindell, who portrays the middle sibling Theresa, the nun.
Written by multiple award-winning Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, Marion Bridge the play precedes the film of the same name and is very different from the latter. MacIvor, who also wrote the screenplay, found that he had to adapt the story for the medium of film and that meant making some “major changes in the story”, he says in his introduction to the play. He goes on to say: “In the end it’s strange how I feel that the play I wrote in order to write the screenplay is really the stronger of the two scripts.”
This is a highly entertaining, must-see play that also demonstrates the beauty of aloneness — that private world each of the sisters inhabits.
“Every character in this play has so many layers,” explains Tracy Noonan, who portrays the eldest, the alcoholic sibling Agnes.
Set in modern-day Nova Scotia, the play takes place in a small community not far from the community of Marion Bridge. The bridge itself takes on the mantle of a Shangri-La for the three women and becomes a connecting point between past, present and future, as they eventually come to celebrate their mother’s life.
“It’s good theatre, and for community theatre this is a quality show,” concludes Lindell.
The play opens at the Studio Theatre, Perth on February 27. There are 7:30 shows on February 27–29 and March 5–7, with 2pm matinées on March 1 and 8. Tickets are $24 and can be purchased at Tickets Please (11 Gore Street E., 485-6434 or ticketsplease.ca) or at the door.
Links for this article at Perth Studio Theatre,
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Marion Bridge Where Past and Present Jostle for Forgiveness - theHumm February 2020
By Heddy Sorour
Studio Theatre Perth’s upcoming production promises a heart-warming evening of discovery. Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor is a humorous and touching story about the power of realization and how it heals more than it harms.
“It’s a drama, with lots of comic moments. They’re amusing characters and the language is amusing and clever and it just flows,” enthuses director Barb Guthrie.
The play is about three sisters in their thirties who congregate at their childhood “home” ......
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