Shelagh Stephenson's Olivier award-winning family comedy, The Memory of Water, will have two staged reading performances at the Actors Theatre Playhouse on Saturday July 25 and Aug, 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Staged readings enable actors to sit with script in hand for a fully realized and rehearsed performance - minus the scenery and the staging.
The Memory of Water is a rapid-fire comedy involving three sisters who are reunited on the eve of their mother's funeral. The three sisters, however, can't quite escape the issues of their youth as they crash their way through a bewildering night anticipating the next day's funeral.
While a blizzard rages outside trapping them with no way out of their mother's house, these three sisters confront the sorry state of their lives. Solid memories, once thought untouchable, fade under examination when each tries to come to grips with the past, present, and future.
Mom, a husband, and a lover also show up, just to keep things bouncing along.
Director Paige Lussier Johnson asks, “Is blood really thicker than water? In terms of family are we connected by more than memory and childhood, or does it go deeper somehow?
“Family is hard. We are all, on some level, messy and emotional. Let's face it, we are stuck with these people for the rest of our lives. But as messy as family is, it's also funny, and I find this play about mixed-up memories and old family relationships to be extremely well-written and hilarious.”
Featured in the cast are Sue Rowell, Nan Mann, Heather Morrison, Veda Crewe, Bruce Holloway, and Ray Mahoney.