Marion Bridge: Engaging production shows humanity

According to the Director’s Notes, Marion Bridge is about three East Coast women trying to tell their own story, and to get that story straight. Of course, the difficulty in getting any story straight is the myriad of personal details and emotions we keep locked up inside. The more we lock ourselves up, the easier it is to misunderstand and pass over each other’s perspectives, even if we’ve technically lived the same experiences. Marion Bridge is yet another dark comedy about a highly dysfunctional family. Stories like these are a dime a dozen. However, the heartwarming production of Marion Bridge differentiates itself by truly focusing on the humanity of its subjects – flaws, misunderstandings, and inner worlds. The production is engaging and compelling with the different aspects coming together to form a heart-warming whole.

The three sisters in Marion Bridge are brought together in Cape Breton in order to be with their dying mother. From the moment the play opens, the tension between them is palpable. Each of them, Agnes, Theresa, and Louise, carries her pain in a different way. Agnes (a furiously sarcastic Robin Guy) shields herself in alcohol and irony while struggling to make it as an actress in Toronto. Theresa (a restrained Shawna Pasini) is a nun who lives a cloistered life and blankets herself in responsibility. She is wound up so tightly that one gets the impression that event the slightest relaxation would find her crumbed on the floor. Louise (a wonderfully direct Cindy Beaton), the “strange one” of the family, lives in her own world of daytime television. As the story progresses and the women are faced with more obstacles (dinner with their estranged father, the death of their mother, etc), chinks begin appearing in their armour, bringing them closer together. 

Bronwyn Steinberg has directed a play filled with atmosphere where the most importance is given to the smallest, most mundane moments. This makes Marion Bridge all the more relatable. The production is well served by the steady, measured pace Steinberg sets. Playwright Daniel MacIvor packs a lot of backstory in the play and the audiences is confronted with a lot of baggage. A faster pace would be overwhelming and disingenuous. Instead, The Three Sisters’ Marion Bridge comes off as an honest peek into everyday life. The frequent torment is rarely melodramatic and the comedy is dark and well placed.

The songs sung by the three actresses enhance and change the mood as needed, from regret to hope, and are a wonderful nod to tradition cape breton music. It is cleverly used to also change the scene without changing anything about the set, which remains the same throughout.

Cindy Beaton is touchingly honest in her portrayal of Louise. Although the quietest and arguably most withdrawn of the three sisters, she is frequently the one to call things out as they really are. Beaton builds her up from a dispassionate, glassy-eyed child to a woman with her own complexities and strengths. Shawna Pasini plays the almost painfully reserved Theresa. Conservative and praying to the bastion of responsibility, Theresa isn’t immediately as likeable or light as the other two. Pasini pokes holes in Theresa’s iciness and manages to portray the nun with humanity, gradually loosening her up to reveal a heart full of empathy and a disposition not immune to the joys of a good joke. Robin Guy as Agnes completely draws us in. She portrays a woman whose disappointment with her life drips from every cutting remark and sarcastic look, but she does it with a humour that makes us root for her desperately.

The Three Sisters’ production of Marion Bridge is a heartwarming production enhanced by outstanding performances, gorgeous music, and good directing. Its immensely satisfying message hits close to the heart and stays with you long after the lights go out.

The Three Sisters Theatre Company production of Marion Bridge continues to February 21, 2015.

Marion Bridge

By Daniel MacIvor

Three Sisters Theatre Company

Director: Bronwyn Steinberg

Set: Andrea Steinwand

Lighting: David Magladry

Sound: Robin Guy and Bronwyn Steinberg

 

Cast:

Agnes……………………………………………….Robin Guy

Theresa……………………………………………..Shawna Pasini

Louise………………………………………………Cindy Beaton

Voice-overs…………………………………………Paul and Vivian Melsness