PREVIEW
The Shadow Box
St. Albert Catholic High drama students
March 4 and 5 at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Arden Theatre
5 St. Anne Street
Tickets: Single $15 or five-pack $65. Call 780-459-7781 or visit sachs.gsacrd.ab.ca
In the late '70s and '80s, newspapers poured a lot of ink into what was then a new AIDS epidemic. As well, doctors were seeing greater numbers of cancer patients. Death appeared to linger everywhere.
Michael Cristofer’s The Shadow Box is very much a reflection of that era. After making its Broadway debut in 1977, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.
Although its initial shock value diminished over the decades, it continues to have relevance in the 21st century. In their updated interpretation, St. Albert Catholic High School drama students are mounting The Shadow Box on March 4 and 5 at the Arden Theatre.
The play is set on hospital grounds where three patients who are terminally ill are living in separate cottages. They have agreed to spend their last days in an experimental retreat where a doctor interviews them about their condition.
At first glance, the two-act has a sombre tone.
“The play is neither sad, nor depressing. What the play allows us to recognize is that life is finite, and every day we have the opportunity to recognize the joy in life,” said director Debbie Dyer.
“It allows them to recognize they are not alone in the situation, and that together they continue to see a catharsis and solace in each other."
In the first cottage, Joe (Declan Kelly) is a blue-collar worker whose visiting wife, Maggie (Manjeet Gill) refuses to acknowledge he is dying. In fact, she hasn’t even told their 14-year old son Steve (Joe Ethier).
“Maggie doesn’t even go inside the cottage. She can’t even tell herself Joe is dying. She’s found a way to protect herself in an unhealthy way.”
In the second cottage sits Brian (Mason Kidney), a reflective academic whose relationship with Mary (Sara Bonner) is tested when Beverly (Mila Whiting) his flashy, intoxicated ex-wife shows up.
In Cristofer’s original production Mary was a Mark.
“He wanted to recognize different types of families. The sense of a gay couple is not something I would have shied away from. It’s just we didn’t have enough males at the audition,” Dyer explained.
In this tableaux, tensions arise between the two women. Beverly is jealous of the relationship Brian and Mary share. Mary, on the other hand, recognizes the history between Beverly and Brian and knows he will not be alive to create one with her.
“What Cristofer offers them is solace in each other. Most of us isolate ourselves in this type of situation. But the power of letting someone in is part of the catharsis.”
The third cottage holds Felicity (Jenn Ethier), an old woman suffering from dementia who drifts from being forgetful to antagonistic and quarrelsome.
Agnes (Jillian Callbeck), her oldest daughter, visits Felicity regularly reading letters from Claire (Katt Akkerman), a long dead daughter.
“Agnes is the caregiver. She takes on the obligation of caring for a sick parent. The enormity of the task is a big part of the show.”
Several times Dyer emphasized The Shadow Box focuses on hope.
“It’s not moralistic. It invites audiences into physical worlds that are simply part of our existence.”
