Are you looking for something really worthwhile to do this week? Go up to Thunder Bay and see Freedom 85! at the Magnus Theatre. The story is captivating and the acting is incredible.
Starring in the play are its playwright, Debra Hale, and Andrea Risk, both experienced professionals. Between the two of them, they play at least 10 different people.
Wearing the same costumes throughout the play, Hale and Risk switch from one character to another with nothing more than changes in voice, accent, body language and facial expression.
One minute they are an elderly woman trying to avoid going back to the old folks’ home and the younger personal assistant she has hired, sitting at a table at the local diner, and the next they are the older woman’s skeptical and protective son and her longtime male friend sitting opposite them. Or they are the older woman and a police officer summoned when she crashes her assistant’s car into the garage. Or a Jamaican restaurant owner, a care center receptionist or the woman when she was a young Canadian immigrant from England after World War II, meeting the Canadian farmer who would become her husband.
The play evokes both laughter and tears as the two women deal with their current life challenges and reflect on their own histories, ultimately discovering that their pasts have more in common than they ever could have imagined.
The collaboration among the two actresses and their director, Kathryn Mackay, is a smashing success, well worth a drive to Thunder Bay.
Freedom 85! runs through November 3, with performances Monday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and matinees on Wednesday at noon and Saturday at 2 p.m. Ticket information can be found at www.magnus.on.ca or by calling (807)345-5552.
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