A play based on the memoir of Globe and Mail journalist Ian Brown’s experience of bringing up his disabled son, The Boy in the Moon by playwright Emil Sher, may not seem like an obvious production to mount at a theatre driven largely by tourism. The choice made by artistic director Brett Christopher to include it in this season’s program, however, may speak to a desire to bring in drama which deals with more complex subjects, as the inclusion of the Ghomeshi affair-inspired piece Asking For It later in September evidences.

The question is whether the audience who comes to see the play will be equally prepared to engage with the issues that it presents, since The Boy in the Moon is not a play which minces the difficult realities of caring for a child with severe disabilities. It chronicles the journey of Brown and his family from the birth of his son Walker, detailing the events and emotions involved along the way. This production, put on by Crow’s Theatre of Toronto and directed by Chris Abraham, also includes a revised version of the script from its original premiere in 2014 at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa (which I happened to see at the time). While this production in 2019 at TIP is as equally moving as the one I saw then, a few of the design and staging choices do not quite complement the action of the play. …

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Following in a similar thread to recent sports-based Canadian musicals such as The Hockey Sweater, Western Canada Theatre’s mounting of Glory by Tracey Power tells the story of the Preston Rivulettes, a record-setting women’s hockey team in the 1930s. Meant as a narrative of empowerment, the play also touches on issues of sexism, anti-Semitism and economic hardship during that period. While the thrill of the team’s exploits on ice is effectively captured in this production at the 1000 Islands Playhouse under both director James MacDonald and Power’s own choreography, the play never quite addresses the background issues which inform the team’s reality in a meaningful way. The economic and personal frustrations of the women are expressed during conversations between games but often take a backseat to the spectacle of the game itself.

The women’s passion for sports is certainly evident throughout, from the first scene depicting a lively game of baseball. Focusing on four real-life players from the Rivulettes (sisters Hilda and Nellie Ranscombe, and Marm and Helen Schmuck), the story begins with their idea of forming a hockey team for the winter season. In spite of the initial objections of local arena manager Herb Fach, Hilda (who becomes the team captain) is eventually able to persuade him to coach them for the upcoming ladies’ hockey season. From there follows a saga of hard-fought games to advance in the league and the off-ice challenges faced by the teammates along the way. The diminishing funds of the Ranscombe sisters’ family, the discriminatory barriers Marm faces as an aspiring Jewish law student, and Nellie’s unrequited feelings for Helen are only some of the real-life complications which threaten to interfere with the Rivulettes’s success. …

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