In 1929, a baby is born in a fishing village as houses are swept out to sea off the coast of Newfoundland. Another baby is born thirty years later in Toronto. They are survivors of the Newfoundland tidal wave that Canada forgot. This story is inspired by true events.
It’s Toronto 1959 and the uptown home of Clare and Martin on the day their baby Michael is born. Clare’s mother Margaret comes to help from Point au Gaul, Newfoundland. While Clare is in the hospital with the baby, Martin has come home for a few hours to find Margaret waiting at the house. As Martin and Margaret talk and the scenes shift to Point au Gaul 1929, Martin learns the circumstances of Clare’s birth thirty years earlier and the significance of the name Michael that Clare has selected for their child.
Keywords: Newfoundland tsunami of 1929, Canadian and Newfoundland history, physical and psychological impact of disasters, abandonment, isolation, bearing witness to the past, community, family
Genre: Drama, Historical
Acts: 3
Run time: 80 minutes
Suitable for students 16+
Cast size: 6 actors
Male roles: 4
Female roles: 2
Casting notes:
Before Clare is a story that presents sustained female perspectives. It features strong women. It offers a demanding role for the female lead, MARGARET TYLER. Written as a dual role, the actor portrays MARGARET in her mid-thirties, pregnant and giving birth in 1929 in Point au Gaul, Newfoundland. The same actor plays MARGARET thirty years later visiting the Toronto home of her daughter and son-in-law in 1959. In both settings, the actor requires dramatic range and emotional nuance. In 1929, MARGARET faces down a tidal wave to have her baby. In 1959, she is no less formidable when it comes to protecting her family. She is, in effect, the answer to the question, what is “before Clare”? It is Margaret.
The entrances and exits of MARGARET have been written to allow a single actor to transition from one character to the other with a minimum of difficulty.
This is a Canadian play about Canada and we are comfortable with diversity on stage. Roles may be cast at the discretion of the director with actors of any race limited only by the familial relationships of the characters. MARGARET TYLER and WES TYLER, parents of CAROLINE WILKES, may be of any race or a mixed race couple with their daughter credibly sharing the familial attributes of her parents. MICHAEL WILKES and GABRIEL WILKES are brothers and may be of any race as they present with similar racial attributes. MARTIN, husband of Clare, may be of any race.
This version of Before Clare has been written for the smaller cast requirements of professional theatres. However, the play can accommodate the larger cast requirements of college and theatre school productions as well as community theatres. The playwright can provide, upon request, a casting note that indicates how the play allows for the participation of more actors. For information, contact the playwright.
www.rickbutts.ca