“Why shouldn’t a dream be just as much a truth? A fantasy be just as deep a reality?”
After twenty-five years estranged, Cecelia and her father, Jules, attempt reconciliation. Unable to communicate past shames and shortcomings, the pair become dependent on increasingly dramatic fairy tales to explain away their pain.
Paint Me this House of Love is a rhythmic, yearning, experimentation of language, exploring the threads that stitch together our shared family narratives, and asks how we communicate, “I Love You”, when the words alone are not enough.
Keywords: father, daughter, family
Premiered at Tarragon Theatre, Toronto ON, 2023
Also produced at Burning Coal Theatre, North Carolina USA, 2025
Genre: Drama
Acts: 1
Run time: 90 minutes
Cast size: 3 actors
Male roles: 1
Female roles: 2
Casting breakdown:
Ci - 20s-30s, Female
Rhondi - 60s, Female
Jules - 60s, Male
"...Paint Me This House of Love is a balancing act between truth and lies, past and present, trauma and memory...An electrifying Tarragon debut for Woolley."
-- Aisling Murphy, Intermission Magazine