Gracie

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – Gracie

Playwright – Joan MacLeod

Production Company/Theatre space – (Semi-Professional) Fire Exit Theatre / Engineered Air Theatre, Arts Commons.

Length – One Act, 90 minutes, no intermission.

Genre/s – Drama

Premise – Fleeing the USA, 7-year-old Gracie arrives at a compound in BC for the marriage of her mother to the camp leader of a polygamous cult and we follow her story until she leaves as a shunned 16-year-old.

Why this play? Why now? – It’s a bold choice to show followers of Christ treating each other so poorly in a play produced by a faith-based theatre. One person plays are cost effective.

Curiosities – I wondered briefly what it would take to get longer runs and how would that impact the piece. I also wondered how reality TV shows have demystified these environments and if that impacts how we view the play today.

Notable Moment – The symbolism of the beginning of the stripping away scene.

Notable writing – The one-woman show was originally commissioned by The Belfry Theatre in partnership with the Enbridge New Canadian Plays program at Alberta Theatre Projects. The play takes great lengths to show how poor decisions made by adults affect children. We also see Grace thrive initially in her environment because she feels loved when given a doll and a bike. Her education is limited and corrupt. Not having choices about who and when she marries are heartbreaking. MacLeod is an award winning, playwright powerhouse and does a deft job of making the girl’s potential saviors on the other side of the fence (as seen through Gracie’s eyes) the foe. Telling stories from the inside out are where MacLeod shines, in this and in her other plays.

Notable performances – One person shows are always a challenge for one actor who tells her story and occasionally lapses into dialogue with other characters. When this happens Ali Grams really shines. Grams adroitly owns the stage showing how corruption, curiosity, and a crush permeate and motivate her.

Notable design/Production – The production’s support of lights by designer Calum Maunier and sound by Joy Robinson add a powerful dimension to the story.

Notable direction – Director Heather Pattengale (who did such fine work with Fire Exit in Outside Mullingar) takes a different tact by having Gracie mime her props. This adds a level of complexity to an already huge undertaking. It is up to the audience to imagine Gracie with a doll, taking away some of the symbolism of motherhood in the play. Also, we are left to imagine the sharp contrast of modern clothes to “modest clothes”. Pattengale makes sure we are never left guessing where Gracie is in her 9-year journey.

One reason to see this show – Ali Grams is very sweet as she keeps sweet.