THE STORY: Presented on a virtually bare stage, with the characters speaking sometimes to the audience and sometimes to each other, the play uses language of poetic eloquence and incision to illuminate its tale of an ill-fated love affair and the family it destroys. It begins with the evocative memories of the mother and father—a Saskatchewan dentist and his mildly rebellious wife—and then goes on, after the mother’s death, to explore the love that blossoms between their daughter and a young Indian. Sadly the romance results in tragedy rather than happiness, leading to the conception of a child out of wedlock, the accidental blinding of the dentist, the jailing of the young Indian and, in the end, a bittersweet accommodation between father and daughter as they face the long, futile years still left to them.
A moving and imaginatively conceived study of love and loss by one of Canada’s most highly regarded playwrights.
“She has an original voice, and a quizzical way of looking at the world.” —The New York Times.
“It is a simple tale, simply and movingly told in the manner that reminded me of the art of Willa Cather.” —Newsday (NY).
Included in the collection
Canadian Gothic and American Modern: Two Plays.
