Neruda Arts having set up shop in St. Jacobs, its new space will be playing host this weekend to the latest iteration of the She Speaks event organized by Flush Ink Productions.
Given the lingering impact of the pandemic, the presentations will be mostly virtual as the celebration of female playwrights marks its 16th year: the readings of the seven plays chosen this year were taped ahead of time. They’ll be premiered Saturday (March 26) at a live screening at the Neruda Arts Studio.
The screenings of the monologues will be followed by a live talk-back session.
The live event is limited to 30 people, with masks and vaccinations necessary. The organization is still erring on the side of caution, says Flush Ink artistic director Paddy Gillard-Bentley.
This year’s lineup includes Window Treatment by Lisa Randall, the story of Estelle, who sits by the bed of her father, hoping to reach him in some way as he lays there unresponsive, unconscious and dying. It’s performed by Kathleen Sheehy.
Also on tap is The Great Round by Connie Bennett in which Joan Kellogg, who developed MARI as an art therapy tool in the 1970s, rants about her theories while cooking supper. Performed by Melissa Gurney-Roe.
The Color Guard by Karin Fazio Littlefield tells of Josephine, an elderly woman suffering from dementia, sits at the table with by bits of paper scattered around her – first the yellow, then the blue, then the pink. This one features a performance by Gillard-Bentley.
Just Right by Mary Littlejohn in which a young homeless woman tells her story: just like Goldilocks, she breaks into the home of the family who passes her in the street every day, scowling, laughing at her or, worse, ignoring her. Performed by Jenn Weatherall
Door to Door Love by Janis Butler Holm in which a woman of age tells the story of a man peddling religion at her door. She seems harmless enough, but is she? Performed by Donna Spector.
As a playwright, Donna Spector’s Falling, performed by John Dibben, features a vet still haunted by the demons of Vietnam telling his story to anyone passing through Time Square who will listen.
Hecate’s Suppers by Frances Roberts Reilly tells of a woman in the midst of a ritual trying to invoke the ancient Greek goddess Hecate – she of boundaries, crossroads, witchcraft and ghosts – while sharing her disappointment at aging and her feeling of being abandoned by the goddess. It’s performed by Kae Mills.
When the She Speaks series began, about 17 per cent of works produced in theatrical circles were written by women. Now that number in Canada has almost doubled, said Gillard-Bentley. Providing a platform for female writers was at the heart of the event’s launch.
“It was 17 per cent of produced work, but women represented more than 50 per cent of the playwrights, so it was about making sure that women’s voices are heard in theatre. Now, since 2007, those numbers have gone up to, the last one I heard was 32 per cent in Canada, which is really high, because you have to factor into that the theatres that are doing Shaw and Shakespeare,” she said.
With many of the traditional playwrights having been male and their plays now available without royalties, it takes time to see shifts in the number of women having their work produced, she added.
Along with readings to entertain the audience, the She Speaks talk sessions provide invaluable feedback to the playwrights, said Gillard-Bentley.
“For a playwright, because I’m a playwright first, a reading is more valuable than a production of your piece. Now, some playwrights will disagree with me, but if a play is just a bunch of words on paper … a play is not a play when it’s just a script on paper. So when you hear your words for the first time out loud, which is the case for playwrights who unlike me, don’t vocalize every word and play out every character, I think that it’s really valuable. That’s what this is about,” she explained.
“ These pieces are oftentimes brand new, and the playwright doesn’t really know what they have. So listening to them is really beneficial.”
The live screening of She Speaks is set for Saturday at the Neruda Arts Studio in St. Jacobs, 8 Spring St., #3 (entrance at back). There’s also be a presentation of the films on YouTube, with a Zoom talk back to follow, the following day. Tickets are available by donation online, with proceeds going to Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region.
