Binnie Brennan employs bow and pen
Symphony Nova Scotia musician Binnie Brennan will be performing in Wolfville on Feb. 28, but she was also in town recently to read from her new novel.
Like Any Other Monday, which was published by Gaspereau Press, is about a Vaudeville act circa the First World War.
While reading at the Authors at Acadia series, Brennan said her writing and performing often feeds each other. The viola player, who began performing at age 14, added she was fascinated by the real life story of Buster Keaton.
“He was a star at the age of five, a child prodigy,” Brennan said. “That was what galvanized me.”
Immersing herself in historical research for several months, she learned that Vaudeville thrived from the 1880s into the 1920s in North America. At one point there were 40,000 acts across the continent.
“There are thousands of Vaudeville artists that are lost to history,” Brennan said. “Many of them were pioneers in popular entertainment, but Keaton stood out.”
Inspired also by Canadian writer Marina Endicott’s writing about the era, she said she spent several months reading and watching old films, then was inspired to create a sense of the grittiness of backstage life.
Brennan explained she began with a single short story and Like Any Other Monday grew from there. She took the novel to the 20th annual Buster Keaton Conference in Michigan last fall and meet Keaton descendants.
The Halifax resident said the reading at Acadia was an enjoyable and energizing experience.
The plot for Brennan’s book begins with the break-up of a family act in 1916. Comic Vaudeville performer Billy Pascoe retreats to Muskoka to consider his prospects as a solo performer. Instead, he discovers an unlikely partner in Lucinda Hart, one half of a disbanded song-anddance sister act. They hit the vaudeville circuit, perfecting their act, gaining each other’s trust and winning over audiences.
Toronto-born Brennan received her earliest musical training at age five. A graduate of Queen’s University’s School of Music, she also pursued studies in Vienna. She has been a member of Symphony Nova Scotia since 1989.
Her novella, Harbour View, was published in the fall of 2009. Her short story collection, A Certain Grace, came out in 2012. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers, she was mentored by M.G. Vassanji and Alistair MacLeod.
Her story A Spider’s Tale was adapted for the stage in Halifax, where it received acclaim in 2007.
www.binniebooks.com
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