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Drama Canadian

Morning Bird, The

by (author) Colleen Wagner

Publisher
J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing
Initial publish date
Aug 2009
Category
Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781897289419
    Publish Date
    Aug 2009
    List Price
    $14.95

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Description

Beth and her husband Jake are expecting a baby. While Beth is having an ultrasound, her very expensive hand-sewn Italian-made coat disappears from the hospital waiting room. Beth is furiousÑthe coat which was a honeymoon gift from Jake has become a symbol of the coupleÕs destiny together and itÕs loss now takes on inordinate significance.
The next time they see the coat, it's being worn by Doreen, a homeless woman who is mentally unstable. Beth is near-hysterical about the theft, feeling that her private life has been violated. She becomes paranoid that Doreen is stalking her and begins to fear for her unborn baby. In effect, Beth wants Doreen to disappear from the face of the earth.
Doreen, as she tells her friend John, isnÕt sure if she stole the coat, or just borrowed it but one thing is certain, she is picking up ÒvibesÓ from it and begins to imagine, surprisingly accurately, the lives of the people who own it. Beth has everything Doreen wants: house, husband, baby on the way. But soon Doreen begins to fear that there will be serious consequences for having taken the coat.
As the charactersÕ lives become more closely entwined, the line between reality and fiction blurs. We step into a shadowy world where fantasies erupt: people morph into other selves. They steal babies, prescribe hysterectomies, and kill one another. Each of them will have to confront the shadow side of themselves before being able to hear the song of the morning bird.

About the author

A multi-award-winning writer, Colleen Wagner studied arts at the OCAD University, as well as literature and drama at the University of Toronto, and she moves between these art forms. Her writing interests include screenplays, stage plays, poetry, and short fiction. Her produced plays include: The Monument (Playwrights Canada Press), translated into a dozen languages and winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, several Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and a number of inter-national awards; The Morning Bird (Scirocco Drama), produced in English and French; down from heaven (Playwrights Canada Press), nominated for a MECCA Award for Best New Play; and Home (Scirocco Drama). Wagner is a past recipient of a research-creation grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council that took her to Africa. Her documentary play, The Living, based on stories of survivors in post-conflict zones, premiered to sold-out audiences at the 2015 SummerWorks Performance Festival at the Theatre Centre’s BMO Incubator for Live Arts in Toronto, and won NOW Magazine’s Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award and Best Director Award. Wagner has written a number of screenplays, including an adaptation of The Monument; filmed a documentary film about women in post-conflict zones and matriarchal societies, Women Building Peace, winner of the Silver Wave Film Festival’s 2016 Best Documentary Award; and an interactive website based on this research, thelivingplay.com. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in various anthologies, including Acta Victoriana, The Fiddlehead, and dANDelion Magazine. She divides her time between a riverside farm in New Brunswick and downtown Toronto.

Colleen Wagner's profile page

Editorial Reviews

ÒTheatre doing what itÕs supposed to do.Ó
ÑRuss Hunt

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