Bondagers

CANNING, NS -- Two Planks and a Passion is proud to produce Canada's first production of Sue Glover's critically acclaimed play, Bondagers.

Bondagers tells the story of six farm women working on the great Border farms of Scotland in the 1860s. The bondagers were women hired at the annual hiring fairs by farm hands who were required to bring female workers with them when they themselves were hired on by the tenant farms. These resilient women take pride in their work while building relationships through song and dance, through compassion for one another and through their connection to the land.

In this drama we see one young bondager named Liza (Konima Parkinson-Jones) hearken for a better life in Canada while taking pleasure in her freedom from marriage and children. Sarah (Deirdre Gillard Rowlings) is a single mother and bondager whose husband left for the adventure of Canada, leaving her with her daughter Tottie (Donna MacMillan). The farm hand's wife, Maggie (Tiffany Jamison-Horne), holds on to her numerous children as she holds on to life itself, while Ellen (Chris O'Neill), a former bondager, now risen to the status of lady, wants desperately to have a child of her own. Together these women move forward with a surprisingly buoyant spirit.

The play is directed by artistic director, Ken Schwartz, and is stage managed by Marigold Chandler Smith, working with Two Planks for the first time. The set is designed by Ian Pygott and the music composed by Jeff Hennessy who was nominated for two ECMA awards for his soundtrack for the Two Planks production of Westray: The Long Way Home. Custome designer Aetna Kuhn rejoins the Two Planks team and the company is working with dance choreographer, Duncan Keppie, an internationally renowned Scottish dance teacher who lives in Grand Pre, NS.

Artistic Co-Directors, Chris O'Neill and Ken Schwartz, worked as apprentices with playwright Sue Glover in an Irish production of Bondagers in 1992, and are excited about being the first Canadian company to ever produce the play.

"I think the play is interesting because it raises questions about how women define and value `women's work'," said Ken. "We both feel very passionate about the play for a number of reasons. It deals with incredibly strong women labouring as indentured workers and struggling with their roles as workers, mothers, mentors, lovers," said Chris O'Neill.

Wolfville: October 14 - 17, 1998, Festival Theatre
Yarmouth: October 18, 1998, The Y'Arc
Halifax: October 20 - 24, 1998, Neptune du Maurier Theatre
Antigonish: October 26, 1998, The St FX Auditorium
Pictou: October 27, 1998, The DeCoste Entertainment Centre
Liverpool: October 28, 1998, Astor Theatre
Annapolis Royal: November 1, 1998, Kings Theatre

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[Scots in New Scotland (Nova Scotia)]
[Scottish Culture & Heritage: Scotland & New Scotland]
[New Scotland (Nova Scotia)] [Scottish Clan System]

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