Three sisters with unresolved mother issues reunite for their matriarch’s funeral in Central Alberta Theatre’s season-opening drama Memory of Water.
Mary and her sisters Teresa and Catherine have barely interacted for years. “They all have different personalities, different views of the world. It’s complicated because some have gone in very different directions,” said the play’s director, Cynthia Edwards.
When they come together at this challenging time, a lot of memories and resentments surface.
The play by Shelagh Stephenson, which opens on Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Nickle Studio at Red Deer’s Memorial Centre, is set in the mid-1990s in England. But the plot could unfold anywhere, at any time, said Edwards, since all families have secrets — as well as siblings who carry grudges and don’t agree on how past events unfolded.
Middle sister Mary has never fully dealt with an earlier trauma. Although she’s a successful doctor, her five-year affair with a married colleague is starting to take its toll. Mary “has a lot to forgive her mother for, to forgive herself for, as well as her sisters and boyfriend, Mike,” said Edwards.
Teresa was the caregiver as her mom deteriorated from Alzheimer’s Disease. She’s an unhappy soul. Her marriage to Frank is less than satisfactory, and Teresa resents her workload even as she strives to take control to keep the family together.
Catherine has all of the traits typically ascribed to the youngest child: she’s spoiled, needy, manipulative — and very endearing, said Edwards. The die-hard romantic hasn’t yet managed to find a partner and always feels slighted by her sisters.
Their mother makes an appearance in this play — and it will be up to the audience to decide whether she’s a ghost, a dream, or a figment of somebody’s imagination.
Edwards said she was drawn to this script because it’s so relatable. “Like all compelling works of art it has lots of layers to it and it keeps drawing you further and further into the theme and the characters.”
With its emotional plot line, she believes Memory of Water demands a lot from its six actors. To up their vulnerability, she decided to stage this play with an audience on two sides, and hopes the dramatic impact will be felt.
“I hope people can relate to aspects of this play from (their experiences with) their own families. I think there is at least one thing in each of the characters that everybody can recognize and identify with.”
A technical challenge for Edwards was getting a hold of a 1990s electronic organizer — a handy, now-extinct device people used before smartphones. She said she managed to track one down the way everybody finds anything — through the internet.
The play runs until Nov. 4. For more information, please visit centralalbertatheatrereddeer.com.