By Dan White – Special to the Sydenham Current
Hello there, reader!
This week I will take you on a journey into the creation of a live theatre performance.
As you may recall, I am directing Remember, Maggy?
This play was written by my friend Carol Murray… and her son Matt.
But first Carol, we will get to that.
I have directed a great many plays over the past 40 years and there is always some drama, pardon the pun, around auditions.
As I’ve noted previously, auditions are the worst, most stressful part of creating a performance for most people.
It doesn’t matter what side of the directors table you sit on; it is a challenging time.
With Maggy I experienced something I have not had before, actors commenting on how powerful the script is and how much they want to be a part of the production.
I can tell you they were not just kissing up to get a part because there were people who realized that their schedule was too full to be a part of the show and they were saddened that they had to withdraw from even the chance to be involved.
The story in this play is not light, it is a drama and you would be forgiven for thinking that it was about Alzheimer’s disease.
It is an important vehicle that is used to tell a story.
Now, I have a vision of the story I want to guide my cast to tell. But I decided to go to the source and talk about the creation of this story to gather more insight for myself and the cast.
I called my friend and the playwright of Remember, Maggy?, Carol Murray.
Carol is a lovely human whom I met through her late husband Bob.
I directed two plays for the Lambton Lawyers which Bob headed up for decades, raising over $100,000 for local charities.
It was through this association that I met Carol and we decided to mount Maggy as a fundraiser for the Sarnia Hospice.
I don’t recall taking much time to discuss the genesis and evolution of this show with Carol ten years ago.
However, I know how close to Carol’s heart this show is and how thrilled she is to have it mounted again, (Fun fact: This will be the fifth time this iteration of the play will be mounted.) so, I called her to get more information about the creative process.
Maggy is first and foremost, the story of two sisters and the bond they have.
The two sisters were inspired by two maiden sisters who were Bob’s aunts and lived together.
Carol noted that the two ladies were polar opposites but were very connected, “It’s hard to believe how different two people with the same DNA can be.”
A bond that Carol saw in sisters and admired.
While the aunts had great names, Ruby and Wilma, Carol felt her sisters needed more modern names, hence, Katie and Maggy (Margaret).
The first iteration of Maggy was performed as a fundraiser for the Sarnia Alzheimer Society some 25 years ago.
In that performance two characters who exist in thought only in the more recent edition were actually in the cast.
The relationship between the sisters was also very different – I may tell you more after our production, but let’s leave that nugget buried for now.
After the fundraising event the script was slipped into a drawer and forgotten about for over a decade until one day Carol’s daughter in-law, Bethany, stumbled across it.
Bethany asked to read the work and loved it, stating that it was so beautiful it couldn’t stay in a drawer.
It was then that Carol’s son Matt, a playwright living and working in Toronto, suggested that the play be submitted into the Toronto Fringe Festival.
As luck would have it, the play was selected in the draw and Carol and Matt set about editing the script.
Carol notes that if the play is a cake, she contributed the cake, and Matt the icing.
As the two set about editing the play, Carol felt Katie telling her that her character needed to change.
It is not uncommon for a writer to sense that her characters are reciting the lines and the writer is simply taking dictation.
That was often how Carol felt.
The play went on to win Best in Fringe and get an A+ review in 2011.
Maggy is a wonderful show that deserves the accolades.
However, for the cast and crew of this Theatre Kent performance sponsored by Glasstown Brewing Co. it is the incredibly beautiful story that Carol and Matt crafted that challenges actors to stretch their skills and dig into the beauty of Kate and Maggy, their mother Niamh and quirky friend Irene.
It is a story of laughter, forgiveness, secrets, betrayal, hope and the power of love.
We are only three weeks into rehearsals, but we can’t wait for you to see it.
In coming weeks I will interview cast and crew members and they will share their insights into the characters and the process of creating a story.
