Hot Off the Press: Paradise
Reading plays is not only for actors who need monologues for auditions or for producers in search of their next show. It’s for theatre lovers who can’t get out to the theatre, or who’ve heard about a play that’s not being presented in their city, or who want to return to a story they loved watching unfold on stage. It’s for anyone who feels like they don’t have the time to read novels, or who skim over the long descriptions in novels to get to the dialogue. Reading plays is for anyone who likes to read.
About the play
After a traumatic assault in Central America, Rachel returns home, but it isn’t the reprieve she expected. She comes back to turmoil between her parents, and a part-time job in her dad’s medical office. Her father, George, full of endearing blunder, tries unsuccessfully to connect with his daughter, who seems to be reeling. Her childhood friend Khalil isn’t around to provide support. He’s in Afghanistan travelling and volunteering when he is wrongfully arrested. On the periphery is Wally—off work because of a logging injury—who spends a great deal of time in George’s office. Wally struggles to buy food for his dog Lucky, his rent payments are overdue, and the ringing in his ears just won’t stop. He’s looking for help in all the right places, but nobody seems to notice he’s deteriorating until it’s too late.
About the playwright
Patti Flather is the co-founder of Gwaandak Theatre, which develops and shares Indigenous and Northern stories for the stage. Some of her other plays include Sixty Below, West Edmonton Mall, Where the River Meets the Sea, and Street Signs (formerly The Soul Menders). Her fiction has appeared in literary publications including Prairie Fire, dANDelion, Room of One’s Own, and Nashwaak Review. Patti is a recipient of the Yukon Arts Builder Award and a past winner of Theatre BC’s national playwriting competition. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and is a writer, dramaturg, director, educator, and screenwriter. Patti grew up in North Vancouver, but now lives in Whitehorse.
Paradise premiered at the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon in March 2015 through Gwaandak Theatre and MT Space. It was directed by Majdi Bou-Matar.
Click here for more information or to purchase Paradise
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