In Belle Moral: A Natural History, we are steeped in a world on the cusp between magic and art, and science and madness.

Set in 1899 just outside Edinburgh, the play unfolds in the venerable estate known as Belle Moral, home to Pearl MacIsaac, an avid amateur paleontologist and proud “new woman”; her maiden Aunt Flora, a sweetly maternal figure who nonetheless keeps an iron-grip on her set of keys; and a staff of quirky household retainers who seem to know more than they are willing say. As Pearl steels herself for the reading of her late father’s will and the inevitable arrival of her wayward younger brother, Victor, she also does her best to dismiss the sinister signs that her home may house another occupant…one whose existence her aunt and the good Doctor Reid seem determined to keep secret.

This dark yet redemptive gothic comedy is a story both of family secrets that come to life, and the birth pangs of the modern era—but above all, it is truly a play of morals. Reaching out in two directions to reconcile the extremes of rationalism and romanticism, Belle Moral embraces a complex range of thought with Ann-Marie MacDonald’s incisive insight and trademark wit.

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Copyright © 2005 A. M. MacDonald Holdings Inc.

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that BELLE MORAL is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and all British Commonwealth countries, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention. All performance rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

Inquiries concerning the performance rights should be directed as follows:
Lorraine Wells and Company Talent Management Inc., 10 St. Mary Street, Suite 320, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1P9, (416) 413-1676 / fax (416) 413-1680.

Ann-Marie MacDonald is an award-winning novelist, playwright, actor, and broadcast host. Her writing for the stage includes the plays Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Belle Moral: A Natural History, and Hamlet-911, along with the libretto for the chamber opera Nigredo Hotel, and book and lyrics for the musical Anything That Moves. She is the author of the bestselling novels Fall On Your Knees, The Way the Crow Flies, and Adult Onset. Ann-Marie is a graduate of the acting program of the National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her contribution to the arts and her LGBTQ2SI+ activism. She is married to theatre director Alisa Palmer, with whom she has two children.

Ann-Marie MacDonald's profile page

"An extremely intelligent and erudite play . . . that mixes the comic and gothic stylistically, with the scientific and political thematically." —The Globe and Mail

"Bright and satiric. . . . Few other writers are so good at telling a story while arguing an intellectual point." —NOW (Toronto)

"The most significant aspect of Belle Moral is the profound contribution of women to society, even if their place is constantly circumscribed and compromised." —Canadian Literature