{"id":13350,"date":"2017-02-01T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T17:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=13350"},"modified":"2017-01-30T10:50:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T18:50:53","slug":"gracie-explores-polygamy-from-the-eyes-of-a-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2017\/02\/01\/gracie-explores-polygamy-from-the-eyes-of-a-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Gracie<\/em> explores polygamy from the eyes of a youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gracie<\/i> explores the life of a girl growing up in a polygamist society in Bountiful, BC. Local playwright Joan MacLeod wrote the play; she says that she would like audience members to come away from the play with a conscious mind about what\u2019s happening in BC, and even here in Victoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like for people to listen to what Gracie<\/i> has to say,\u201d she says, \u201cand think about what\u2019s happening in our own province, and to try and uphold the right to religious freedom, as well as how that impacts children that grow up in a polygamist community. It\u2019s an interesting thing to look at, discuss, and weigh in on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lili Beaudoin plays Gracie and, according to MacLeod, does a fantastic job of taking on the role and responsibilities that come with a one-person show.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an amazing actor,\u201d says MacLeod. \u201cShe\u2019s very young but very well trained, and she\u2019ll try anything. When the play starts, she\u2019s playing an eight-year-old and she conveys the feeling of an eight-year-old. She\u2019s very open emotionally and that\u2019s very important for the type of plays I write.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gracie<\/em> explores heavy topics through a one-person format (photo by David Cooper).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MacLeod says that the playwright being present as much as possible really helps get the direction, and the play, right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a premiere production it\u2019s important to work closely with your actors,\u201d says MacLeod. \u201cI just came from the rehearsal hall; we\u2019ve been working intensely and I\u2019ve been there every day, except one where I had to teach. In a premiere I think it\u2019s really important that the playwright\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although a one-person show might seem intimidating to put together, MacLeod has plenty of experience writing them. According to her, Gracie <\/i>actually follows a pattern that is quite common in her other work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, it\u2019s not different than my other plays. It follows a pattern; this is my fifth one-person play. I tend to write a play with a bunch of different characters and then follow that one up with a one-person show. It\u2019s inspired by some true and some fiction events, and that\u2019s something I do a lot of.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacLeod says that being a playwright requires a lot of focus and tenacity to be successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting is hard work; all students know that,\u201d she says. \u201cSo just having the discipline to write, rewrite, and persevere, even when it seems kind of crappy, is important. Even when you write for the theatre, you\u2019re doing most of it alone, and, you know, I\u2019d say that\u2019s the hardest part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gracie
\n<\/i>Until Sunday, February 19
\nVarious prices, Belfry Theatre
\nbelfry.bc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gracie explores the life of a girl growing up in a polygamist society in Bountiful, BC. Local playwright Joan MacLeod wrote the play; she says that she would like audience members to come away from the play with a conscious mind about what\u2019s happening in BC, and even here in Victoria. \u201cI\u2019d like for people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,181],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-february-1-2017"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13350"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13353,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13350\/revisions\/13353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}