What does it mean to you to be performing in Toronto at Canadian Stage?
It means the world to me! I have done two shows in the Jane Mallett (PIAF and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) but in the Bluma I have only done a transfer from the Grand Theatre of JOHN GRAY’S ROCK’N ROLL and that was in 1988! I am over the moon to be doing a Canadian Stage production in the Bluma AND a play! Not a musical. I have been hoping for this for quite some time. Extra bonus: I can walk there in 5 minutes!
You’ll be playing Margaret, a role that won Lois Smith the Best Featured Actress Tony Award in 2020. What about this character made you want to be a part of The Inheritance?
I read the script. I cried reading Margaret’s section. It is heartbreaking and beautiful. Regret is something I have given a lot of thought to. It is the greatest sadness to me. She embodies regret but chose to do something about it. It touches me deeply. This is such an important work and I feel blessed to be a part of it.
You have played some incredibly iconic roles in theatre over the course of your career. Are there any aspects of your previous roles that are helping prepare you to play Margaret?
I think most characters I have played have a degree of Margaret in them. Regret, loss, love……Mama Rose, Piaf, Mrs. Johnstone call all contribute to the construction of this character. But really, each new role is a thing of its own. I never think of any other character when I am working on another.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming rehearsal period?
I am most excited to see this incredible cast at work with Brendan Healey. I am honoured to be in the same room and feel like a kid at a new school. To see how a director will take such a huge work and put it on its feet is a lesson I am happy to witness.
Why should audiences come to see The Inheritance?
To be moved, to be touched, to be uncomfortable, to laugh, to cry, to regret, to ponder; to feel they have lived something they might have ignored or rejected or not understood. This play has the power to do what theatre can and should do: to ask you to invest in a human communion.
Tickets to The Inheritance is now on sale.
On Stage March 22 - April 14, 2024
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