CANNING, NS -- Two Planks and a Passion is proud to produce Canada's first
production of Sue Glover's critically acclaimed play, Bondagers.
Bondagers tells the story of six farm women working on the
great Border farms of Scotland in the 1860s. The bondagers were women
hired at the annual hiring fairs by farm hands who were required to bring
female workers with them when they themselves were hired on by the tenant
farms. These resilient women take pride in their work while building
relationships through song and dance, through compassion for one another
and through their connection to the land.
In this drama we see one young bondager named Liza (Konima
Parkinson-Jones) hearken for a better life in Canada while taking pleasure
in her freedom from marriage and children. Sarah (Deirdre Gillard
Rowlings) is a single mother and bondager whose husband left for the
adventure of Canada, leaving her with her daughter Tottie (Donna
MacMillan). The farm hand's wife, Maggie (Tiffany Jamison-Horne), holds
on to her numerous children as she holds on to life itself, while Ellen
(Chris O'Neill), a former bondager, now risen to the status of lady, wants
desperately to have a child of her own. Together these women move forward
with a surprisingly buoyant spirit.
The play is directed by artistic director, Ken Schwartz, and is stage
managed by Marigold Chandler Smith, working with Two Planks for the first
time. The set is designed by Ian Pygott and the music composed by Jeff
Hennessy who was nominated for two ECMA awards for his soundtrack for the
Two Planks production of Westray: The Long Way Home.
Custome designer Aetna Kuhn rejoins the Two Planks team and the company is
working with dance choreographer, Duncan Keppie, an internationally
renowned Scottish dance teacher who lives in Grand Pre, NS.
Artistic Co-Directors, Chris O'Neill and Ken Schwartz, worked as
apprentices with playwright Sue Glover in an Irish production of
Bondagers in 1992, and are excited about being the first
Canadian company to ever produce the play.
"I think the play is interesting because it raises questions about how
women define and value `women's work'," said Ken. "We both feel very
passionate about the play for a number of reasons. It deals with
incredibly strong women labouring as indentured workers and struggling
with their roles as workers, mothers, mentors, lovers," said Chris
O'Neill.