By Jane Mosgrove
A single bed with carefully-folded blankets at the foot and a wooden chest are the only props adorning the small circular stage at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. But around the edge of the stage is something different — a trough, about four inches deep, waiting to be filled with water.
The water is a symbolic element in An Act of Ruth, a play set to have its world premiere at the GCTC.
“The water is like a photograph in a pan of developing fluid,” says Mary Ellis, who performs the role of Ruth.
Water helps to present the play as a series of snapshots that examine the life of Ruth, a young woman raising her daughter Robin and dealing with her ageing mother Poppy, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. The water as developing fluid also represents Poppy’s past career as a talented photographer.
The cast and director of An Act of Ruth met with playwright Kimberley Orton last August. They came up with two drafts of the play, shown previously in a different form in Toronto.
An Act of Ruth fits the GCTC’s theme for the 1999-2000 season, which is Images of the Family.
It is also fitting as Micheline Chevrier’s final play to direct at the theatre.
In February she is heading to the prairies to direct two shows.
Nancy Oakley, the company’s general manager, says the theme and this play reflect experiences that many people are dealing with.
“It’s a story of a family that struggles and learns how to cope with their situation and finds out what strengthens them,” Oakley says.
Chevrier, agrees the story-line is one to which many people can relate.
“I think everybody has been faced with this situation in some way, but on a very personal level,”she says. “So what people take away (from the play) will be very personal.”
Chevrier officially finished as artistic director at the theatre Dec. 31when Lorne Pardy assumed the position.
Chevrier says the finality of this production will probably hit her opening night, but for now she is just trying to get the work done.
“The play is probably a bit ironic in a way, since it deals with family,” Chevrier says. “The echoes of that will probably visit me after the fact.”
Ellis says she is really enjoying working with Chevrier and she is pleased to be acting in her last play at the GCTC.
“I was in the first show Micheline directed (at the GCTC),” Ellis says, “so this has a kind of nice bookend quality to it.”