Play delves deep into story of religious sect, gives voice to polygamous community’s youth
Solo show Gracie a coming-of-age tale set in Bountiful, B.C., writes Louis B. Hobson.
Call it coincidence or call it a sign, but actor Lili Beaudoin had a very special encounter the day before her audition for Joan MacLeod’s new solo show Gracie.
Gracie, which runs in the Arts Commons Martha Cohen Theatre until March 18, is the story of a young girl living in Bountiful, the polygamous community in British Columbia.
It is a joint production between Victoria’s Belfry Theatre and Calgary’s Alberta Theatre Projects.
Beaudoin says she had certainly heard of Bountiful before she was invited to audition last year, but she knew very little about the beliefs and practices of this breakaway Mormon sect.
“I did a great deal of research on the Internet and I remember being amazed by the clothing the women wear. They are completely covered from their necks to their shoes,” says Beaudoin.
“The day before my audition, I was walking in the park working on my lines when I spied five women dressed exactly like those women I’d seen in the Internet photos. This was the first time I’d seen such women in person.”
Beaudoin says she learned they were from Creston and Arizona and that the youngest girl was just 13.
“I look very young for my age so we looked about the same age. She looked at me with such curiosity and wonder.
“At that moment, I wanted to be behind her eyes to see what she saw when she looked at me.”
By winning the coveted title role in Gracie, Beaudoin did eventually get behind that young woman’s eyes, because there is a scene in MacLeod’s play set at a Dairy Queen where Beaudoin’s character sees someone her age who looks so different from the women and girls she is used to seeing.
Beaudoin is grateful she got to see what she calls the past lives of MacLeod’s play.
“Originally, Joan had conceived of a four-character play about a boy on the outside of the community and the girl in the community, but she eventually decided to stick exclusively with the girl’s story and her dilemma.”
As Gracie grows up, things in life are either good or bad, right or wrong, heaven or hell.
“This is a coming of age story,” explains Beaudoin “so we see Gracie from age eight to 15 at which time she begins deciding for herself instead of listening to everyone around her.
“In her community, girls are married very young so as marriage approaches for her, she has to decide to listen to the community or to her own voice.”
Beaudoin can empathize with Gracie, because like the girl she plays, Beaudoin grew up in a unique community. Her parents are actors who specialize in clowning, acrobatics and physical theatre.
“For the past seven years, my father (Colin Heath) has been a member of Cirque du Soleil and my mother has been working on helping to create the new Cirque shows.
“When I was about six years old, my parents created The Leaky Heaven Circus so my childhood was anything but normal. We’d move three times a year and we always had a trapeze in the living room and trampolines and silks in the backyard.
“Learning these skills was just part of my life.”
Though she has had several major roles in college productions, Beaudoin says playing Miranda in Meg Roe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, for which she received rave reviews, was her true introduction to professional theatre.
In Joan MacLeod’s Gracie, Beaudoin gets to play 14 characters in total including Gracie, her mother, brother, two older sisters and even the leader of the community.
Tickets for Gracie are on sale at atplive.com and at 403-2947402.