Homesick
Rhona needs advice from her mother, Clara, about how to bake bread and what to do about her deadbeat boyfriend, her stalled country and western singing career, and an unexpected pregnancy. Rhona’s quest for guidance is derailed by the death of her maternal grandmother, which triggers an avalanche of unresolved feelings for the whole family, as well as signs of life from Rhona’s comatose father, Cliff. While Clara slips further into the past, Cliff struggles to regain the present; and once boyfriend Gary arrives on the scene, Rhona is forced to deal with her own uncertain future.

The Myth of Summer
A lightning strike and the inspirational story of Joan of Arc trigger a series of magical occurrences for sixteen-year-old Jessica and for everyone else around her caught up in the fleeting euphoria of this most maddening season of the year. German massage therapist Werner and frantic puppeteer Melanie fall in love over dreams of Canadian wilderness and French erudition, both of which turn out to be empty promises. Party-planning duo Dacia and Kevin orchestrate important events for other people while deluding themselves about the lack of meaning in their own lives. Meanwhile, Jessica wields her new-found powers to help her family (and her boyfriend) see the painful truth about love.

Conni Massing is an award-winning writer working in theatre, film, radio, and television. Recent stage credits include the hit comedy The Myth of Summer, which premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in 2005; Homesick, which premiered at Edmontonâ??s Workshop West Theatre; and an adaptation of Bruce Allen Poweâ??s The Aberhart Summer (Alberta Theatre Projects/Citadel Theatre). Massing has worked as a television series story editor on The Beat, North of 60, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, and as a story consultant on Anaid Productionsâ??s documentary series Taking it Off and Family Restaurant. Conniâ??s comedic short film Invisible was produced in the fall of 2007. She is currently adapting W.O. Mitchellâ??s Jake and the Kid for Theatre Calgary and writing a book about road trips.

Conni has been playwright-in-residence at Theatre Network, Playwrightsâ?? Workshop Montréal, and the National Theatre School of Canada. She now teaches both playwriting and screenwriting in the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta. A proud member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, sheâ??s also a regional representative for the Writers Guild of Canada. Massingâ??s writing has been recognized by the Alberta Motion Pictures Industries Association (AMPIA), the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Betty Mitchell Theatre Awards, and the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Theatre Awards. A recipient of a Queenâ??s Jubilee Medal (for contributions to the arts), Massing was recently honoured as one of one hundred people who have made a contribution to Alberta theatre in the last one hundred years.

Conni Massing's profile page