PAST PRODUCTIONS

Marion Bridge

American Premiere

by Daniel MacIvor
directed by Susan Fenichell

October 1 - November 27
259 West 30th Street
produced by special arrangement with
Sonny Everett and Ashley Gates

Three sisters return home to care for their mother in this lyrical, poignant, and funny play by Obie-winning Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor. Trapped by life choices and unfulfilled expectations that have left them isolated, the three women search for the courage to create a new family from the remnants of the old. Marion Bridge uses an elegant theatricality to portray three remarkable women struggling to change their lives. Daniel MacIvor, author of In on It, Never Swim Alone, and Cul-de-Sac, is a recipient of The Governor General's Award and one of Canada's most acclaimed contemporary playwrights.

REVIEWS

"...beautifully performed drama at Urban Stages by Mr. MacIvor, a vastly underrated and prolific writer... There's no murder, no shocks and no dark secrets waiting to be revealed. But in some ways, this moving drama, which tiptoes toward sentimentality without ever reaching it, is the most surprising play that he's ever written. When was the last time you saw a drama about three distinct, complex women that had nothing to do with their relationships with men? The MacKeigan sisters, whose affection for one another shows despite their constant bickering, are troubled, each in her own way. Agnes (Henny Russell) has a faltering acting career and an estranged daughter; Theresa (Christa Scott-Reed) is a rigid nun questioning her faith (a portrait on par with Cherry Jones's in "Doubt"); and childlike Louise (Susan Louise O'Connor, above right, with Ms. Scott-Reed) is married to her soap operas. They have all come home to see their dying mother, but while Mr. MacIvor often writes about death, this resolutely hopeful play is as much about making the most of life (despite all its flaws and disappointments). JASON ZINOMAN, The New York Times, Oct. 28, 2005

"... crisp direction, simple yet effective production values and credible performances by the cast succeed in creating a moving experience " CurtainUp

"... a solid core of emotional honesty"
Margo Jefferson, The New York Times, Oct. 7, 2005

"Beautifully directed by Susan Fenichell and splendidly mounted by Urban Stages, it's a terrifically entertaining and engaging work. I highly recommend it. "Martin Denton, nytheatre.com

O'Connor shines on in Daniel MacIvor's old-fashioned but quietly effective Marion Bridge... O'Connor's unexpectedly touching Louis epitomized the play's gentle message that people are rarely as simple as they appear" Adam Feldman, Time Out New York Oct. 13

"Compelling and moving." - Back Stage

Susan O'Connor - "People of the Year" at nytheatre.com. Congratulations!

"Immortalized by King Lear, the three-sisters drama has been appropriated and embellished countless times by artists as eminent as Anton Chekhov (Three Sisters), Woody Allen (Interiors; Hannah and Her Sisters), and novelist Jane Smiley (A Thousand Acres). Daniel MacIvor's Marion Bridge is a modest entry into the genre, but it distinguishes itself through an elliptical and refreshingly ascetic approach to family melodrama. In a maritime island town, alcoholic Agnes (an excellent Henny Russell) returns home to help look after her dying mother. Already tending to the hearth are youngest sister Louise (Susan Louise O'Connor), an antisocial couch potato, and middle sibling Theresa (Christa Scott-Reed), a plainclothes nun whose favorite sartorial colors are gray and grayer. Predictably, the sororal trio progresses from awkward non-communication to vindictive bickering to hesitant reconciliation. What's surprising and most gratifying are all of the big moments that MacIvor doesn't show us˜the offstage mother who communicates solely via Post-its, Agnes's trips to visit a long-lost relative, and the titular bridge that played a crucial role in each sister's adolescence. Denying itself many of the obvious means of emotional catharsis, Marion Bridge subsists on small, often trivial scenes that, when
taken together, cast a spartan chill that no happy ending can erase. " The Village Voice, October 26th, 2005