Category: Interview

An Interview With Playwright Maria Crooks: The Mary Mink Story

Posted on by James Hutchison
Photograph of Playwright Maria Crooks
Playwright Maria Crooks – Photograph by James Hutchison

“Frankly as human beings we all have a tendency to be more wary and distrustful of anyone who is not like ourselves. Also there has recently been a lot of discussion about who has the right to tell other cultures’ stories and my play touches on that topic. As our society becomes more diverse it is important to talk about this and to understand how to respectfully approach the telling of stories about other cultures. I don’t think it is wrong to write stories or make movies about others but one should always think about how to do so in a respectful and mindful manner.” – Playwright Maria Crooks

Maria Crooks is an emerging Calgary playwright who began writing plays after retiring from a corporate job in the oil industry in 2011. She describes her most recent play, The Mary Mink Story, as a play about untrammeled ambition, ruthlessness and deceit and one man’s relentless efforts for the truth to be told.

JAMES HUTCHISON

Maria, what attracted you to playwriting as opposed to novels, short stories, poems or other forms of writing?

MARIA CROOKS

I’ve always had a passion for writing and in the past I’ve taken a number of writing courses including poetry and short story writing. I decided to try playwriting because it was a new kind of writing for me and because I don’t like doing research and I mistakenly thought that writing plays wouldn’t require doing much research. Despite discovering that I was wrong about the amount of work it takes to write a play, I was hooked when at the end of the first course, the instructor brought in two professional actors to read scenes from the plays we had written in class. It was so thrilling to have the characters I had created, in my head, come to life before me that I’ve been writing plays ever since.

JAMES

You know I find it inspiring that you’ve come to playwriting later in life and I think that’s a great thing. I think people should go after their dreams no matter what their age. What motivated you to go after this dream?

MARIA

I love the theatre and I love acting and in fact after retiring I started taking acting courses and I’ve acted in a couple of plays since then. I also love words and writing and so the acting led to the writing of plays and somehow the writing has taken centre stage as it were, at least for the time being.

JAMES

A few years ago, I went to When Words Collide, an annual writers and readers conference here in Calgary, and heard American fantasy and science fiction author Brandon Sanderson talk about writers being either gardeners or architects. Gardeners are writers who plant seeds and see what grows. In other words, they just sit down and start writing. Architects are writers that like to make a blueprint before they start writing. Which are you?

MARIA

I believe I’m naturally a gardener. Even at university when I had to write papers I had difficulty following structure and pattern. I find following a blueprint a bit confining. However, over the years, I’ve discovered the usefulness of having a blueprint. It’s particularly important when writing a play where you have to know everything about the background of the characters you’re writing about before you start writing because it grounds them and informs their choices and will make your play and the characters more realistic and believable.

JAMES

Okay I have to ask, one of your earlier plays is a play called Age of Love – and it’s about a romantic relationship between a younger man and a much older woman – where did that story come from?

MARIA

I was listening to the program As It Happens on CBC radio about two years ago when they were rebroadcasting episodes from their archives. I heard an interview with a young man who in 1976 was 21 years old, and had fallen in love with his 76 year-old step-grandmother who had recently been widowed and he was determined to marry her despite his parents’ protests. At the time I was looking to write a play examining sexuality and I thought the story of love between two people with such a huge age difference would be intriguing to explore and write about.

JAMES

As you were writing that play what did you discover about your own thoughts and society’s thoughts concerning love, sex and age.

MARIA

I wrote the play as a comedy: I thought it was very funny and odd for a young man to fall in love with wrinkles and false teeth, but as I wrote it, I fell in love with my characters and I realized that romantic love comes in different forms and the usual pattern of boy meets girl who is young and beautiful is only just one of many ways for people to fall in love.

Ryan Gray as Ash and Diana-Marie Stolz as Olivia in the Urban Stories 2015 Production of The Age of Love

JAMES

It was produced so I’m curious what the audience’s reaction to the play was.

MARIA

I was very pleased with the reaction of the public, in fact it got good reviews* and elicited a lot of laughs. To this day, I will be at a dinner party or be at some other social function and friends or other people who have seen the play will approach me and want to talk about it. This happens way more often than with any other play I’ve written. Many wonder if perhaps I had been in a relationship with a younger man and that is the reason I wrote the play.

I also did research on gerontophilia, which is a little-known sexual preference for the elderly, and I printed an article to post at the theatre for the audience to read so they would know that this sort of love is possible and that I didn’t just write it out of wishful thinking.

JAMES

You mentioned that people thought the story for Age of Love came from personal experience but even though the specifics of that story aren’t about your life how much of your own life experience do you find you put into your writing?

MARIA

I think it’s inevitable that my own experiences will seep into my writing consciously or unconsciously.

When I was a child we moved from Cuba to Jamaica and after the move my parents couldn’t find an item, it’s been so long now I can’t remember what it was, but they immediately assumed it had been stolen by the woman who had been helping with the packing. This woman had been a family friend and my parents never responded to her letters because of the assumption that she had stolen from them. Many years later they found the missing item but by then it was too late, the friendship had been broken.

That story became the basis of my first play, The Servant, which is a story about a servant who is accused of having stolen a valuable ring which was subsequently found. I wanted to examine the nature of trust and how quickly it can be eroded when we jump to conclusions. In that same play I included a scene from a revival church meeting I witnessed as a child with a woman getting into the spirit and whirling around while speaking in tongues.

So yes, my experiences do enter my plays from time to time.

JAMES

Your current play is The Mary Mink Story. What is that play about?

MARIA

The Mary Mink Story is about a black woman who lived in Toronto in the mid-19th century. Her father, James Mink, was a prosperous businessman who owned a hotel and livery stables and had several lucrative government contracts delivering mail and so forth. According to several historical accounts, which I found online and in books, James Mink placed an ad in the Toronto papers offering $10,000 for a white man to marry his daughter. A white man married her and promptly took her across the border to the US where she was sold into slavery. The story was so intriguing that I felt compelled to write a play about it, however my research led me to a researcher from York University in Toronto who has done extensive work on James Mink and his family and she provided me with information which disproved the story.

JAMES

After doing your research and finding out the real story – how did that impact your play?

MARIA

I found myself in a dilemma. I felt the story was so dramatic that I wanted to tell it, but at the same time I didn’t wish to perpetuate the myth which is based on racism and bigotry and I didn’t want to be a part of that. I, therefore, decided to tell the myth while at the same time debunking it. This has been my most difficult play to write and my hope is that I have succeeded in exposing the myth while at the same time telling an interesting Canadian story.

JAMES

Why do you think this story needs to be told?

MARIA

I felt this was a story about a black family that needed to be told and I had a responsibility to set the record straight. A TV movie about the Minks was made in the 1990s and it too recounted the myth as if it were true. Wikipedia has an account of James Mink and that account does not say that it is a myth either so anyone coming across the movie or reading the Wikipedia account will come away believing it to be true.

JAMES

Why do you want to set the record straight? To tell the truth about what really happened?

MARIA

I feel a responsibility to James Mink and to his daughter to set the record straight because both were real people who were respectable and hard-working intelligent folk who do not deserve this continued insult to their memory. James despite his humble beginnings rose to become a prominent citizen of his community both he and Mary were proud of their African heritage and it is inconceivable that he would have made the offer he was purported to have made in order to get his daughter married.

JAMES

You’ve been able to work with Urban Stories a local theatre company here in Calgary on the development and production of your plays. What’s that been like?

MARIA

As an emerging playwright, collaborating with Urban Stories Theatre has been really advantageous. I met the founder and Artistic Director, Helen Young at an actors studio a few years ago and she encouraged me to expand a short play I had written into a full-length play which she then produced and presented as a main stage play. Urban Stories has a mandate to promote and support local playwrights and to that end they put on playwriting workshops, help budding writers through the dramaturgical and workshop process and will produce works which they feel fulfill their mandate of examining social justice issues.

Urban Stories has produced two of my full-length and two of my short one-act plays and we’re planning to produce the The Mary Mink Story at some point in the future. I originally had no intentions of offering this play to Urban Stories or anyone else for that matter because I had reached an impasse with the play and didn’t know how to move forward with it. I knew I wanted to expose the myth but I didn’t know how to do it, so I had put it away. Then I happened to mention to Helen that I had this play that I had more or less discarded and she asked to read it. She did and next thing I knew she said she wanted to produce it. So now I’m working with Urban Stories as well as dramaturge Caroline Russell-King, so that the play can be produced.

JAMES

Speaking of Urban Stories’ mandate to examine social justice issues what are you hoping audiences will get out of your telling of The Mary Mink Story?

MARIA

First of all, I hope they will find it entertaining and enjoyable but I also want people to see how easily lies can be created and perpetuated. This myth was born out of jealousy and dislike of the “other” and it persists even today.

JAMES

I assume you’re referring to the “other” as in immigrants or people of different race or nationality.

MARIA

Yes, I’m referring to immigrants and minorities but frankly as human beings we all have a tendency to be more wary and distrustful of anyone who is not like ourselves. Also there has recently been a lot of discussion about who has the right to tell other cultures’ stories and my play touches on that topic. As our society becomes more diverse it is important to talk about this and to understand how to respectfully approach the telling of stories about other cultures. I don’t think it is wrong to write stories or make movies about others but one should always think about how to do so in a respectful and mindful manner.

JAMES

Anything else you’d like to add about the play or writing or art or who you think is going to win the Grey Cup this year?

MARIA

I think theatre is important and it’s very pleasing how much good theatre there is to see in Calgary. We live so close to the US and their plays and playwrights tend to dominate so I think it’s very, very important to foster our own Canadian playwrights and their work. As for who will win the Grey Cup, I’m afraid I know nothing about football so, I won’t even hazard a guess.

***

Maria Crooks is a Calgary playwright whose plays are often inspired by real events which she uses as a starting point for her fictional work. You can contact Maria by at catalinaver13@gmail.com if you’d like more information or if you’d like to obtain copies of her plays.

FULL-LENGTH PLAYS

  • The Servant is a play set in early 1960s Jamaica and Canada. It’s about a poor servant woman and her desperate efforts to achieve a better life for herself and her children despite the many forces arranged against her.
  • The Age of Love is a wacky comedy about an inheritance, a free-spirited step-grandma, a libidinous young man, his jealous mama, a weirdly eccentric German doctor and a ruthlessly ambitious talk show host. Non-stop hilarity ensues when these unlikely characters come together on a tabloid TV show.
  • The Mary Mink Story is a play about untrammelled ambition, ruthlessness and deceit and one man’s relentless efforts for the truth to be told.

SHORT PLAYS

  • Dreamboat is a 15 minute play about a plain young woman’s dreams of finding true love
  • La Mère, La Mer is a short play about a young mother’s descent into insanity and the unfathomable act she commits after the birth of her child.

* Review: The Age of Love Turns the Taboo Into Something Sweet by Rodrigo Flores

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Urban Stories Theatre is focused on supporting local playwrights writing about social justice issues by nurturing their ideas from first draft to finished production. The company is made up of a core group of local artists who oversee all productions and workshops. Budding actors, directors, stage managers and designers are encouraged to share their ideas by becoming part of the team on a show by show basis.

Vision: To give local artists a voice in creating theatre that tells real stories about real life.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

An Interview with Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry: Book Club II

Posted on by James Hutchison
Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry – Photograph James Hutchison

“I enjoy writing humour and I like the challenge. At the same time, if the story doesn’t have heart, if nothing serious is going on underneath the humour….what’s the point really? I want my plays to address some aspect of the human struggle that hopefully people can relate to. That’s what I want to see when I go to a play so naturally I aspire to that in my writing.” Meredith Taylor Parry interview Book Club II

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Meredith Taylor-Parry is a Calgary-based actor and playwright whose fun and insightful comedy Book Club was a runaway hit for Lunchbox Theatre back in 2016. At that time I did a two-part interview with Meredith. In Part One we talked about Meredith’s play Survival Skills which won the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest in 2013 and was produced Off Off Broadway by the 13 Street Repertory Company. In Part Two we talked about Meredith’s play Book Club which was a funny and insightful look at motherhood and the joys and disappointments of life. Now in this third interview, Meredith and I talk about her very funny and moving sequel to Book Club – Book Club II: The Next Chapter, which premieres at Lunchbox Theatre and runs from September 18th to October 7th.

***

JAMES HUTCHISON

The first Book Club was a big hit for Lunchbox Theatre and ended up having an extended and sold-out run. Audiences loved it! Why do you think the play resonated so well with audiences? And did you notice any difference in how men and women reacted to the play?

MEREDITH TAYLOR-PARRY

I knew I had a dream team as far as our director, actors, production and design team, but I never once imagined it would do so well! I can’t even tell you how much fun it was sitting in the audience listening to the laughs and waiting for the responses to my favourite moments. That was so exciting for me and unexpected.

I really think the reason the play resonated so well with people was because of the chemistry we had together as a group of artists. Everyone contributed so much to that script in the Stage One workshop process. There wasn’t one person in that room who didn’t add value to the script because everyone was brave enough to share themselves with me. I think that process and the generosity of the artists I was working with allowed me to find authenticity in the script along with the humour.

And, I think, the audiences liked it because they could relate to human beings, regardless of gender.  One of the best comments I got was from a man who said, “good comedy is good comedy.”

Anna Cummer, Cheryl Hutton, Kira Bradley, Arielle Rombough and Kathryn Kerbes in the 2016 Lunchbox Theatre Production of Book Club

JAMES

How soon after Book Club did you start thinking about a sequel?

MEREDITH

I was watching performances of Book Club sell out and I was thinking, better strike while the iron is hot Meredith! I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to approach Mark Bellamy, Lunchbox Theatre’s Artistic Producer, when things were going well, and I had already been working on an idea for a sequel based on a weekend I had spent in Banff with my girlfriends.

I have the BEST group of girlfriends. We’re all moms and we have a lot of laughs together, and I’m constantly writing down ideas when I’m with them. They don’t mind either, they’re very supportive of my writing.

So, I took my idea and managed to scrape together 20 pages of Book Club II and a rough outline and I submitted it to Mark pretty much as soon as Book Club closed.

He was thrilled and considered it for the 2016 Stage One workshop but, due to scheduling issues, we couldn’t get the same team together to work on it. So, he scheduled me in for the 2017 Stage One series AND programmed it for the beginning of this season. He let me know at the beginning of this year and it was very exciting and of course a bit terrifying because I didn’t have a full script yet.

JAMES

What is Book Club II about?

MEREDITH

I wanted to further explore the nature of really good female friendships and examine how that works within one’s marriage.

There’s a special kind of intimacy I share with my girlfriend’s and I’ve questioned how that affects my relationship with my husband. Does he feel left out because I rely on them so much? What about my girlfriend’s spouses? How do they feel?

The first play was all about good girlfriends supporting each other through the messy business that is motherhood. I wanted Book Club II to explore the toll parenthood takes on a marriage and examine where the character’s husbands fit into the complicated lives of these women.

Anna Cummer, Cheryl Hutton, Kira Bradley and Arielle Rombough in a scene from the Lunchbox Theatre production of Book Club II: The Next Chapter – Playwright Meredith Taylor Parry Book Club II

JAMES

Even a good marriage has rough patches and, I think, unfortunately, our society places a lot of unrealistic expectations on our relationships. For example, there’s the idea that our romantic partners should know what we want and feel and think without us actually having to tell them. That’s a romantic notion that doesn’t reflect the reality of marriage or relationships. To make any relationship work, romantic or otherwise, you have to communicate. You have to tell your partner – when you’re hurting – what you need – what’s going on in your life – otherwise they won’t know. So, I guess what I’m asking is whether or not you think that some of the problems people face in their marriages are because the reality of marriage doesn’t live up to the romantic fantasy of marriage? And maybe – now that I think of it – men and women have different expectations of what marriage is?

MEREDITH

Yes, and yes! We are raised on a certain brand of romance. Cinderella has been around for a long, long time! I think we are both unrealistic in our expectations and I think men and women have different expectations for their romantic relationships. I also agree that communication is key. Humans are terrible mind readers yet we easily make assumptions about our partner’s thoughts and behaviours and communicate our needs in cryptic ways.

In the workshop, we did discuss the typical “husband on the couch while wife slams dishes into the dishwasher” scenario. Why doesn’t she just ask for help? Why doesn’t he pitch in without being asked? We also talked about the different expectations for men and women when it comes to emotional vulnerability in communication. I think we’re improving but there’s still a culture of emotional toughness when it comes to boys.

JAMES

Where did the actual story for Book Club II come from?

MEREDITH

It started with the original idea of the characters getting away for the weekend and talking about their marital woes. I talked with lots of girlfriends and a few male friends about their marriages and I also did a lot of reading. There’s a lot of material out there about marriage and relationships! I went back as far as Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus, remember that one?

One of my favourites was “How Not to Hate Your Husband After You Have Kids” by Jancee Dunn. So, the story of Book Club II contains bits and pieces of all the research I did and of course it evolved greatly in the Stage One workshop this past June. Curt Mckinstry was extremely helpful with developing the husband character. Once again, I was blessed with a generous artist who was willing to share himself. And, of course, I got the rest of my dream team back as well.

Cast of Book Club II – Anna Cummer, Cheryl Hutton, Kira Bradley, Arielle Rombough and Curt Mckinstry Playwright – Meredith Taylor Parry Book Club II

JAMES

Did you feel any pressure writing the sequel? Were you able to focus on the writing without worrying about it being as big a success?

MEREDITH

The pressure made me sick to my stomach to tell you the truth.  What if number two sucks? But the great thing about a deadline is, you have no choice. I wasn’t going to walk into the workshop empty handed. It was a very intense week, the script was rough and I spent a lot of late nights writing so that I could address the issues that had come up during the day. That kind of intense writing leaves no room for your inner critic to get in the way. I did breathe a sigh of relief at the reading however when the audience seemed to like it. I also completely trust Shari Wattling, my dramaturg/director. She keeps me truthful and she keeps me focused and tells me when I’m drifting off course.

JAMES

I think one of the things that worked so well in the first play was the mix of humour and drama all brought to life by a wonderful cast and a terrific production. And I’d say based on the reading for Book Club II, which I saw back in June, I think you’ve managed to capture that same mix of humour and drama. So, I’m curious when you’re writing is the mix between humour and drama something you do intentionally or is it more of an intuitive process?

MEREDITH

I guess when I’m working I’m always looking for ways to work in funny or quirky bits. I enjoy writing humour and I like the challenge. At the same time, if the story doesn’t have heart, if nothing serious is going on underneath the humour….what’s the point really? I want my plays to address some aspect of the human struggle that hopefully people can relate to. That’s what I want to see when I go to a play so naturally I aspire to that in my writing.

Arielle Rombough, Cheryl Hutton, Kira Bradley, Curt Mckinstry and Anna Cummer in a scene from the Lunchbox Theatre production of Book Club II: The Next Chapter – Meredith Taylor Parry Book Club II

JAMES

It’s been a couple of years since you wrote the original Book Club. In what ways do you think you’ve evolved as a playwright?

MEREDITH

I’m learning more about structure and I’m learning more about the practice of writing. I was an on again off again kind of writer, creating in fits and starts and then buckling down when I had a deadline. But now, I write every day. A play is kind of like a lover, you need to give it attention so that it will give something back. If I give a play attention every day it seeps into my unconscious mind and feeds me new ideas constantly, even when I am not sitting at the computer. And hopefully on opening night, your lover doesn’t screw you over. Ha ha!

JAMES

If you loved Book Club you’re definitely going to love the sequel, but the great thing is you don’t need to have seen the first play in order to enjoy the second play. Both plays stand as full stories on their own. What do you want audiences to take away after they see the new story.

MEREDITH

My hope is that the audience will see a story they can relate to and enjoy a great night of theatre. I hope they will leave with a desire to see more theatre! There are so many spectacular offerings this season in Calgary!

JAMES

Are the girl’s stories going to continue? Is there a full-length play in the works?  A book maybe? A possible television series?

MEREDITH

Good lord, you’re getting way ahead of me. Let’s see how this one goes first, shall we?

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Book Club II: The Next Chapter runs from September 18th until October 7th at Lunchbox Theatre. Performance times are Monday to Saturday at 12:00 noon plus a 6:00 pm show on Thursdays and Fridays. Tickets are $26.00 for adults and $21.00 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased on-line at Lunchbox Theatre or by calling the box office at 403-265-4292 x 0.

Lunchbox Theatre 2017/2018 Season

Book Club II: The Next Chapter by Meredith Taylor-Parry
Book Club is back. Get ready for another page turner.
September 18 – October 7, 2017

During a weekend getaway where the girls talk about creating a Mommy Commune and Lisa runs into an old boyfriend, the girls of Book Club have to examine what marriage and sisterhood truly means to them.

CAST

Kira Bradley – Kathy
Anna Cummer – Ellen
Cheryl Hutton – Lisa
Arielle Rombough – Jenny
Curt Mckinstry – Barry / Bartender / Colin

CREATIVE TEAM

Meredith Taylor-Parry – Playwright Book Club II
Shari Wattling – Director
Chris Stockton – RBC Emerging Director
Terry Gunvordahl – Scenic & Lighting Design
Rebecca Toon – Costume Design
Allison Lynch – Sound Design
Ailsa Birnie – Stage Manager
Ava Bishop – Production Assistant

Flight Risk by Meg Braem
One man’s heroic journey to find peace.
October 23 – November 11, 2017

World War II veteran Hank Dunfield is about to celebrate his 100th birthday, but painful memories of his time as a tail gunner during the war don’t make him feel much like celebrating. Only his new nurse Sarah is finally able to get to the heart of Hank’s pain and sorrow and help Hank find peace with the past.

The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Mantello
The is one elf that won’t make the nice list.
November 27 – December 23, 2017

An out-of-work actor in New York city takes a job as an elf in Macy’s Santaland Village and reveals all the crazy and hilarious behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the holiday season. A Christmas comedy for the little bit of humbug in all of us.

Inner Elder created and performed by Michelle Thrush
One woman show for all people.
Co-Presented with the High Performance Rodeo
January 15 – 27, 2018

Using real memories about her Grandmother’s impact on her life, award winning Calgary actress, Michelle Thrush takes audiences on a journey of discovery. A journey where we see the transformation from child to elder and learn that for everyone laughter is the best medicine.

Ai Yah! Sweet & Sour Secrets by Dale Lee Kwong
Dinner is served. So are juicy family secrets.
February 19 – March 10, 2018

When her father invites a surprise guest to celebrate Chinese New Years more than one family secret comes out of the closet and Chinese-Canadian Jade Wong is caught between being true to herself and living up to her family’s cultural expectations. A funny heart-warming story for anyone who has ever faced an awkward family dinner.

Miss Caledonia by Melody Johnson
This story will be over in an hour. Her Hollywood dreams may be too.
April 2 – 21, 2018

Peggy Ann Douglas dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star and leaving behind all the stall cleaning, hay-baling drudgery of her 1950’s life on Rural Route 2. Step one is to sing, twirl and pivot her way to being crowned Miss Caledonia in the local pageant!

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Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry

Meredith Taylor-Parry is a playwright based in Calgary, Alberta. Her plays include So Long, a TYA play which toured Calgary and area schools in 2012 with Sandbox Children’s Theatre, Survival Skills (Winner New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest 2013) which was produced Off Off Broadway in 2014 by the 13 Street Repertory Company NYC and Devices which was produced as part of the 27th annual New Ideas Festival presented by Alumnae Theatre in Toronto. Her one act comedy, Book Club, received its world premiere at Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary in 2016, performing for a majority of sold-out audiences and held over due to the play’s popularity. She is looking forward to returning to Lunchbox with the sequel this September: Book Club II: The Next Chapter. Meredith is a co-founder of Bigs and Littles Theatre Society and a stay-at-home mom to 11 and 12-year-old girls. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at the University of Calgary.

Lunchbox Theatre

Bartley and Margaret Bard and Betty Gibb founded Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary in 1975. Lunchbox delivers a fun and unique experience to its audience – upbeat performances in an intimate and comfortable atmosphere. Patrons are encouraged to eat their lunch while they enjoy the show. Lunchbox Theatre focuses on the development and production of original one-act plays; many of which are written by local Calgarians.

An Interview with Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry – Part Two: Book Club

Posted on by James Hutchison
Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry
Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry – Photograph by James Hutchison

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“The pattern is clear, women are drinking more. And not just in my circles. I think it’s a phenomenon in stay at home moms. It’s a way to get through the witching hour. It’s a way to relieve the anxiety and the pressure of information overload that moms now have because we’re trying to make the right choices. But there are so many choices laid out for us, with so many different arguments for which one is the right one, that we’re walking around with this mind boggling anxiety all the time that we’re making the wrong ones.”

 ***

There’s a new play premiering at Lunchbox Theatre next week by Calgary Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry called Book Club. It’s a funny and insightful look at being human, motherhood, and coping with life’s disappointments and joys.

And it’s funny – did I mention that?

Very funny. And beautifully written. I highly recommend it. So, take your daughter and your mother and your grandmother. Get your son and your father and your grandfather. Gather up the whole family, members of the Book Club, the Wine Club and the Social Club and make sure you head to Lunchbox Theatre and catch this gem of a play.

Last week, I published the first part of my interview with Meredith where we talked about her play Survival Skills. This week, in part two, we talk about her play Book Club.

 ***

JAMES HUTCHISON

You came to the acting late, and now you’ve come to the writing later. And even though you haven’t been writing a long time you’ve had good feedback and some success including a production Off Off Broadway for your play Survival Skills. And now you have a new production coming up, here in Calgary, at Lunchbox Theatre for your play Book Club. How much do you feel maturity has played a role in you becoming a writer?

MEREDITH TAYLOR-PARRY

For me maturity was very important. I don’t think I would have had the confidence or the stories to become a writer if I’d tried this when I was nineteen.

For someone else, who’s got that confidence and talent right from the womb, they can sit down in their twenties and tell these great stories. But I wouldn’t have had the confidence to be able to tell them on paper and be brave enough to share them and get the feedback. I feel like I needed to gather confidence over the years, and then just gather a wealth of stories because life happens to you, and to other people, and you can write them down and turn them into drama.

And I struggle with that, from time to time, as a writer – when someone tells you something personal and you go, “Jesus, that’s a good line.”  But if you’re a writer that’s what you do. I don’t make this stuff up. It’s hand delivered right to you – and you sit there and you take things in and you remember details.

JAMES

What is Book Club about?

MEREDITH

It’s about a bunch of mommies who are meeting for Book Club and I wanted to examine different kinds of mommies that I’ve met or mommy types. You know there’s the type of mommy, like me, that would give her kid a hot dog, and then there’s the type of mommy that would see that as child abuse. But we’re all mommies, right.

And then there’s that competitive nature we seem to have as human beings. That seems to happen with mommies. If you show up with bought cookies, from Safeway on bake sale day, you feel less than the person who shows up with homemade cookies that she must have spent all night slaving over.

And I also wanted to explore a darker idea. The phenomenon of wine being a civilized version of Valium in our generation. You know people get together for play dates and they have wine. They meet for book club and they have wine. The pattern is clear, women are drinking more. And not just in my circles.

I think it’s a phenomenon in stay at home moms. It’s a way to get through the witching hour. It’s a way to relieve the anxiety and the pressure of information overload that moms now have because we’re trying to make the right choices. But there are so many choices laid out for us, with so many different arguments for which one is the right one, that we’re walking around with this mind boggling anxiety all the time that we’re making the wrong ones.

JAMES

Tell me about workshopping the play at Lunchbox.

MEREDITH

Once I did the workshop process it became pretty clear right away – any wine drinking that happened had to be pretty tame because we wanted it to be a comedy and we didn’t want to explore the idea of addiction in stay at home mother’s at this time.

JAMES

You touch on it very lightly.

MEREDITH

Very lightly.

JAMES

There’s a resolution at the end of maybe we should stop drinking wine and actually read some books. So it is dealt with. But it’s a very funny play. And I think it’s all about trying to figure out life – it’s about hopes and dreams and figuring out how you can do the role you’ve been put into and whether or not that role fits you. And even though it’s about motherhood I think it’s about anybody because male or female we can relate to that because that’s a universal thing. How many dads are dads going – “Did I want to be a dad? I did want to be a dad. But now that I’m a dad –

MEREDITH

– boy does this ever suck –

JAMES

– this isn’t exactly where I want to be –

MEREDITH

– I wouldn’t trade them for anything but wow this sure sucks in some ways.”

JAMES

I love that you explore that because that’s not an unusual feeling. To think what life could be without the children but we’re made to feel guilty about that.

MEREDITH

Or to want other things, right? Because being a parent is supposed to be our most important role. Yeah, I want to be a great mom but I also want to be a great writer too. But, no, no, no, I have to want to be a great mom more – right? That’s more important.

Thanks for all the positive feedback by the way. I was shocked that everybody found it so funny and liked it so much because it was such a pleasure to write and it was easy to put down on paper. It just fell out of me.

When I did the workshop I’d get up early in the morning and I’d write a new scene and I’d go in and I’d be sick to my stomach when they sat down to read it because I’d just wrote it that day. And then when I got good feedback I just remember being continuously shocked – “Really? You really like it? Does that work?” And then when Mark Bellamy from Lunchbox read it and said, “I really like your play.” Once again I’m still kind of astonished that the feedback has been so good.

JAMES

Are you astonished in one sense because it was such an easy journey to reach a professional stage?

MEREDITH

Yes, absolutely – to reach a point where it’s going to be produced by a professional theatre. Yeah. That’s astonishing to me. So what does that tell you? I guess you should write what you know.

JAMES

How much do you credit the workshop? Because it was a wonderful ensemble – right – it just seemed to really work well.

MEREDITH

Yes, I had a bunch of superstars – fantastic actors – almost all of them young moms and then I had Shari Wattling and she’s a great director and a great dramaturge.

I also wanted to write a play with just female roles because the year before I put a play in and Glenda Stirling was at Lunchbox then and she said, “Wow four women up on stage – I love it! It didn’t make the cut this year but I really loved your play and I’d love to see all women up on stage.” And I said, “Yeah.  I want to write good roles for women because I’m a woman and I’m an actor and I know how hard it is to find good roles.” So that was important.

But that process with Shari and the other actors was just gold because they gave me lots of things to think about. Lots of ideas. We discussed and talked about it at the table, and then I went home and thought about things they had said. When someone as talented as Myla Southward or Cheryl Hutton says, “I don’t know about that part – that’s a real harsh line or that falls flat with me…” and that’s the last thing you hear as you head out the door you think about that until bedtime. I trusted their opinions. These are talented artists. I was lucky to get that group.

That’s the dumb luck part. The dumb ass luck part that Vern Theissen talked about when he was talking about a career as a playwright in his workshop that we went to.

JAMES

So, so far, you’ve had a lot of dumb ass luck.

MEREDITH

I’ve had a lot of dumb ass luck man. I don’t know what’s going on? But I also think I got a lot of bad writing out of my system early on which feels good. When I look back on the classes I took with Clem Martini when I was taking my BFA at the U of C fifteen years ago I purged a lot of crappy writing off the top…kind of like the head on a beer, you know. I look back on some of that stuff and it just makes me laugh at how bad and self-involved it is – and how it’s not dramatic and I don’t care about structure. Or when I was trying to be funny – oh man, that’s painful.  So, I feel like I purged a bit of that. And then to come back at it years later I was in a different place.

JAMES

You told me Clem encouraged you to write so he must have recognized something.

MEREDITH

Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. I mean I never did exceptionally well in his classes or anything but he’s a good teacher and a lot of the stuff he told me stayed with me. He told us about writing dialogue, about structure, and about the hero’s journey – and that stayed with me over the years and I’d think about it, you know, when I’d read a book, or watch a movie, and maybe that was because I was supposed to become a writer in the end.

JAMES

Are you able to picture what you want the future to be for you as a writer?

MEREDITH

I want to be writing of course. I would like to spend more time collaborating with other artists like we did that week when we did the workshop at Lunchbox. That’s when I’m at my best. Not when I’m on my own but when there’s a group of people around and we’re on the same creative page. You know not just writing in my own little office but being able to collaborate with other artists in order to make something you’ve created even better.

***

Book Club Poster Lunchbox 2

Book Club by Meredith Taylor-Parry

Directed by Shari Wattling

What happens at book club, stays at book club.

Jenny is the perfect wife and mother. At least that’s what her book club thinks until one day she disappears and they have to turn detective and follow her trail! This mad cap, adventure-filled romp, shines a light on the pressures of motherhood and the value of true friendship.

World Premiere at Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary from February 8th to 27th, 2016 with the following cast and crew.

Cast

  • Lisa – Cheryl Hutton
  • Ellen – Anna Cummer
  • Mary – Kathryn Kerbes
  • Kathy – Kira Bradley
  • Jenny – Arielle Rombough

Creative Team

  • Playwright – Meredith Taylor-Parry
  • Director – Shari Wattling
  • RBC Emerging Director – Jenna Rogers
  • Stage Manager – Ailsa Birnie
  • Apprentice Stage Manager – Melanie Crawford
  • Scenic & Lighting Design – Anton de Groot
  • Costume Design – Dietra Kalyn
  • Sound Design – Allison Lynch

***

Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry

Meredith Taylor-Parry is a playwright based in Calgary, Alberta. Her play Survival Skills won the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest in 2013 and was produced Off Off Broadway by the 13th Street Repertory Company, NYC in April 2014. Her play Devices received a production in Week One of the New Ideas Festival at Alumnae Theatre in Toronto in March of 2015. Her most recent work, Book Club, was developed as part of the Suncor Energy Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work at Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary in 2014 and will receive a world premiere at Lunchbox in February 2016. Meredith is Co-Artistic Director of Bigs and Littles Theatre Society and also enjoys writing and performing for young audiences.

You can contact Meredith at LinkedIn by clicking the link above or by email at: mtaylorparry@gmail.com

***

Book Club was part of the Suncor Energy Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work at Lunchbox Theatre in June of 2014 where it received a workshop and reading.

Cast

  • Lisa – Brieanna Blizzard
  • Ellen – Myla Southward
  • Mary – Kathi Kerbes
  • Kathy – Cheryl Hutton
  • Jenny – Arielle Rombough

Creative Team

  • Playwright – Meredith Taylor-Parry
  • Director/Dramaturge – Shari Wattling
  • Assistant Dramaturg – Jacqueline Russel

Setting

The action takes place over a few hours in Lisa’s home, at a male strip club, outside a tattoo parlour, in a rough part of town, and outside an airport.

Synopsis

When Jenny is a no show on Book Club night the mommies start to worry. When she sends them a text to tell them she has booked a flight to Italy, they really get frantic. The group heads out on the town to track down their friend and hopefully talk some sense into her. This is a play about motherhood, from the stress of competitive parenting to the beauty of a good girlfriend who will help you get through it.

Lunchbox Theatre

Bartley and Margaret Bard and Betty Gibb founded Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary in 1975. Lunchbox delivers a fun and unique experience to its audience – upbeat performances in an intimate and comfortable atmosphere. Patrons are encouraged to eat their lunch while they enjoy the show. Lunchbox Theatre focuses on the development and production of original one-act plays; many of which are written by local Calgarians.

Interview Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry – Part One: Survival Skills

Posted on by James Hutchison

Survival Skills by Meredith Taylor-Parry won the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest in 2013 and was produced Off Off Broadway by the 13 Street Repertory Company, in New York City in April 2014.

“You want to write the kind of play where people are going to go home and talk about it, and think about it, and talk about themselves a little bit. You know, my God, if it got people to think about their own mortality a little bit, how could that be a bad thing? We all run around scared to talk about it, but we’re fascinated by it at the same time. The idea that we’re mortal. Just to have that discussion opened up wouldn’t hurt.”

Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry Survival Skills
Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry – Photograph by James Hutchison

Her most recent work, Book Club was developed as part of the Suncor Stage One Festival at Lunchbox Theatre and will receive a world premiere at Lunchbox in February.

I sat down with Meredith, while her four-month-old Beagle Tucker, lay happily nearby chewing puppy toys, to talk with her about Survival Skills and Book Club, as well as her writing process.

***

JAMES HUTCHISON

When you go to a play what is it you go for? What is it you hope to get out of it?

MEREDITH TAYLOR-PARRY

I guess I want to be moved emotionally, always. I like Opera. I always write while I listen to Opera. I want to be moved. I like the tragic. I like stories where you watch people getting put through the wringer. Watching characters go through hell and then some. And I like stories and plays with some expression of hope at the end. That’s very important. It doesn’t need to be wrapped up perfectly, but just something.

JAMES

Tell me about the reason you wrote Survival Skills.

MEREDITH

Well, my Dad committed suicide in two thousand and two after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, and I always knew that I wanted to write about it. I never thought about writing a novel – I always thought it would be a play.

JAMES

How difficult was it to put that out into the world? Because that’s a very personal thing.

MEREDITH

It was difficult, but when an experience like that happens to you – or at least my experience is – you’re compelled to tell that story over and over and over again.

And I’ve heard some people say, yeah but some people never want to talk about it again – but that wasn’t me. I was compelled to tell that story to friends – to grief groups –I’m just compelled to share it. I don’t know how many times my mom and I would get on the phone after it happened and we’d end up retelling that day – the actual event – when we found the suicide note – when we called the police – when my brother went out to look at the body that afternoon.

And I originally thought the play was going to open with that scene, but then I went to a Playworks Ink Conference in 2011 and I signed up early and got into Daniel MacIvor’s workshop. And he started the workshop by reading the scene you’d submitted. And he’s a pretty fantastic actor and he did all the different parts. I had my sister there, my brother there, my mother in the scene, and the character that represented me. We were all there and he just read through that first scene from beginning to end and when he finished – it was silent and he said, “That’s a hell of a way to start a play. People discovering a suicide note.”

And I went, “Yeah, yeah I guess it is.  I wasn’t really thinking about that.”

He said, “We’re going to end the scene right here where your brother hangs up the phone and I want you to write the next scene.”

And I wrote the next scene and that became the first scene of the play because I took his advice – that is a hell of a way to start a play. But I think I needed to write the suicide scene first because that was the hardest scene to write – bar none – and to go back and remember those moments in specific detail.

JAMES

How much do you credit that workshop with moving forward on the play?

MEREDITH

Huge. He looked at me and said, because I had some humour in there, “Meredith, any play that can bring levity to the topic of death needs to be written.” He said, “I myself am terrified of the medical system. I’m not afraid of dying – I’m terrified about becoming a patient of the medical system.”

And here’s this man who has written all these beautiful plays with all this fabulous experience and wisdom but at the same time he’s a really good teacher too. He really has the right touch. And I think he just knew the right thing to say to help keep me going. He also made us promise, before we left the workshop, to send him the first draft by a certain date. And I did, because it’s Daniel MacIvor, right. I wasn’t not going to do it. I was two weeks late, but it made me finish it.

JAMES

You worked on the play for a couple more years and then entered it into the New Plays of Merit Contest in 2013 and won. What was it like getting the phone call that the play had won?

MEREDITH

That’s what my dream was up to that point. That someone was going to phone me up and tell me that I was good enough to win a contest. And I felt really good about it because it was New York. Because to me that was the place where all the good playwrights go. So, that was a real shot in the arm – no question. I felt pretty good about that – but I was stunned.

JAMES

What was it like to go see your play on stage?

MEREDITH

I vowed that I wasn’t going to be critical of my work because I don’t know if this is ever going to happen to me again. The idea of going to New York to see your play – Off Off Broadway in a little old theatre with a little old 92 year old Broadway performer running it. I mean this theatre had a lot of history. Tennessee Williams’ plays were performed there. And I thought, don’t ruin it by sitting there thinking about all the things that are wrong with your play. It wasn’t perfect, and I still think there are things that can be improved about the play, but I just vowed I was going to go and enjoy it.

JAMES

It’s interesting to me because there’s a certain completion to the journey. From the experience of your father having committed suicide, to writing the script, to winning the contest, to getting it produced. How you would sum up the whole experience as you were watching the production with your family?

MEREDITH

Well the first word that popped into my mind was surreal, and the second thing was how much I enjoyed the performances, and how much the actors brought to it. I just vowed I was going to go and enjoy it and I wasn’t going to worry about my family as far as taking care of them or worry about their reactions to it either. But you know, I also worked through a lot of stuff with that play.

When dad was suspecting a bad diagnosis – this was three days before he completed suicide – I phoned his room at the Moncton Hospital from Calgary. And he said, “Oh they’re going to do some tests and things.” Because at first they thought it might be a bowel infection and a reaction to antibiotics. But there was a moment where he hesitated on the phone and in my mind I wondered what was he was going to say next. To me there was something that he meant to say and tell me. Like he opened his mouth to say it and it didn’t come out and I wondered if it was, “Listen if it’s a bad diagnoses this is what I’m going to do.” But he didn’t say anything, and I heard this kind of breath, or hesitation, and I wondered, and wondered, and wondered about that afterwards.

And then I thought, well what would you have done if he had said, you know, this is not going to go well…would I have suspected…because we knew his philosophical stance on end of life.  He always said, “If I ever got a bad diagnosis that would be it.” But it’s a leap in your mind to hear those words and really imagine your father actually doing that.

So I thought, in my state of mind, what would I have done? I probably would have called mom and told her not to leave him for a minute. And then there’s a part of you that would have said, “Okay – whatever you need – I’ll do it – I’ll help you.”

And I did end up inadvertently helping him complete the act by flying to the Maritimes, because when my mother came to pick me up at the airport that’s when he completed. So I felt complicit in that, and that bothered me for a long time, even though it was inadvertent. It was a window of opportunity, and he took it, and I provided that. So, in a way I helped whether I wanted to or not.

I changed the play so that the character who plays me actually does make the decision to fly home to get her mother out of the house so that her father will have the window of opportunity very knowingly not inadvertently.

JAMES

Dramatically that’s a good choice.

MEREDITH

Dramatically it was a hell of a lot better choice than what really happened.

JAMES

Because then the character is active.

MEREDITH

Yes.

JAMES

What do you think your dad would think of this play?

MEREDITH

Wow. I just think he’d be horrified, because he was such a private person. I had to struggle past that a little bit because he’d be so horrified that I laid it all out. But you know what? Whatever form – and I do believe there is some kind of spiritual form that he takes now – I don’t think he has those same opinions any more.

And after he was gone, I pretty quickly said this is more about me than it is about him. This is more about us. And that’s how I was able to write it. I was lucky, because my family wasn’t upset. But dad would have been. I think for sure. But I wouldn’t have had to write it – you know what I mean – unless it had happened.

JAMES

Was it cathartic for your family in some ways?

MEREDITH

Maybe in some ways. I sat right beside my mom and my aunt and I could feel the seat shaking because they cried and cried and they laughed too, but there was a lot of tears you know. I know that my aunt and mom told me they sat up all night in the hotel room talking about it. My brother said, “Man it’s weird to see your life up on stage like that.” But it was probably not as cathartic for them as it was for me

JAMES

What are your hopes for the story?

MEREDITH

I would love to see it produced again, of course. Published and produced. Those are the things that I’m looking for with all my plays. I don’t really want them to just sit stagnant. You want to write the kind of play where people are going to go home and talk about it, and think about it, and talk about themselves a little bit. You know, my God, if it got people to think about their own mortality a little bit, how could that be a bad thing? We all run around scared to talk about it, but we’re fascinated by it at the same time. The idea that we’re mortal. Just to have that discussion opened up wouldn’t hurt.

***

Next week, in Part Two, I talk with Meredith about her play Book Club, and its upcoming production at Lunchbox Theatre.

***

Meredith Taylor-Parry Survival Skills - Survival Skills Poster

Survival Skills by Meredith Taylor-Parry

A father takes his life.  The family gathers to mourn.  Only one saw the body.  Only one knows what really happened.

Winner: 2013 New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest

Premiered at 13th Street Repertory – NYC April 3 – May 1, 2014, with the following cast and crew.

  • Directed by Leanora Lange

Cast

  • Kathleen – Aimee Thrasher
  • Annalise – Kristen Busalacchi
  • Eliza – Mary Ruth Baggott
  • Oscar – Jason Kirk
  • Len – Danny Sauls

Crew

  • Stage Manager – Alex Bishop
  • Properties Assistant – Aimee Thrasher
  • Dramatrug – Kurt Hollender
  • Producer – Sandra Nordgren

***

Playwright Meredith Taylor-Parry

Meredith Taylor-Parry is a playwright based in Calgary, Alberta. Her play Survival Skills won the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest in 2013 and was produced Off Off Broadway by the 13th Street Repertory Company, NYC in April 2014. Her play Devices received a production in Week One of the New Ideas Festival at Alumnae Theatre in Toronto in March of 2015. Her most recent work, Book Club, was developed as part of the Suncor Energy Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work at Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary in 2014 and will receive a world premiere at Lunchbox in February 2016. Meredith is Co-Artistic Director of Bigs and Littles Theatre Society and also enjoys writing and performing for young audiences.

You can contact Meredith at LinkedIn by clicking the link above or by email at: mtaylorparry@gmail.com

***

Survival Skills by Meredith Tyalor-Parry – Synopsis

“He saw a window of opportunity.”

A man diagnosed with terminal cancer commits suicide, leaving his family behind to struggle with the aftermath. Our journey begins 20 years later as Annalise and her sister sit at their dying mother’s bedside. The daughters are compelled to relive with the audience the horrible days following their father’s death when those closest to him came together to mourn and try to understand his choice. The play moves between past and present.

Their father’s decision is a controversial one. It was terribly painful for his wife and children to experience such a sudden, violent loss. But as we watch the sisters sit with their mother we begin to understand the motives behind his action. Is the choice to let death come in its prolonged and often agonizing way any less traumatic for those involved? Should we have the right to choose?

As in any time of family crises, personalities clash and sibling rivalries are revisited. Annalise’s frustration grows as her father is both accused of being a coward and applauded as hero. Finally she reveals an awful secret; her father needed her help. It is only by sifting through the memories that haunt her, that she will find forgiveness.

New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest

New Works of Merit is an international playwriting contest developed in 2003 to bring works of social significance to the general public.

13th Street Repertory Company

The 13th Street Repertory Company, founded in 1972 by Artistic Director Edith O’Hara, provides a place for actors, directors, playwrights, and technicians to develop their craft in a caring, nurturing, professional environment.

Link to Interview with Juliet Liraz
Link to The Hemingway Solution Parts Unknown, and Anthony Bourdain

Creative Process – Playwrights – Actors – Directors

Posted on by James Hutchison

Welcome to my corner of the world where you can download my plays and read them for free. You can also read my interviews with other playwrights, actors, and directors about their work and creative process.

Way way back in the early days of community cable television myself and a group of friends used to produce a show called Profile. We did exactly what I do in this blog – talk with creative people about their work and process.

My very first guest on Profile was a guy named David Cassel. A quick Google search shows he’s been a busy guy over the last forty-plus years. He was a mime artist. Is a mime artist – as well as a designer, writer, producer, and director.

Other guests included Playwright Sharon Pollock, Theatre Director Louis B. Hobson, and Vicki Adams Willis from Decidedly Jazz Dance Works.

When I got back into theatre and started writing plays, I also wanted to include the occasional interview on my website with other creative people.

Link to interview with Christopher Hunt about his work and creative process.
Link to interview with Ahad Raza Mir about his work and creative process.
Link to interview with Meredith Taylor-Parry about her work and creative process.

Check out some of my more recent interviews over the past few years with such wonderful and talented individuals as film and television director David Winning, playwright Caroline Russell-King, theatre photographer Tim Nguyen, Artistic Director of Lunchbox Theatre Bronwyn Steinberg, and playwright Kristen Da Silva.

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If you enjoy listening to great interviews with creative people then check out Q with Tom Power and this terrific interview with John Irving. Or this interview from the Dramatists Guild Foundation between playwrights Christopher Durang and David Lindsay-Abaire. Or this raw and uncensored interview from the Writers Guild Foundation with author and screenwriter William Goldman.