The elderly Gidley sisters lead unassuming and unexciting lives in a small Ontario town in 1969. Tart-tongued Pearl and the more romantically-minded Edith live frugally, renting a room to the occasional boarder to help make ends meet. But the sisters' orderly life is turned upside-down when their neighbour George asks them to take in Charles, a young American Vietnam veteran.
The characters in this beautifully-written, bittersweet comedy gently draw out one another’s stories…and along the way must come to terms with loyalty and betrayal, long-ago heartbreak, the consequences of sacrifice, and the power of music.
“Pearl Gidley is a modest play. But it is modest in the way Carol Shields’ novels are modest, Alice Munro’s and Ernest Hemingway’s short stories are modest or Anton Chekhov’s plays are modest.”—The Waterloo Record
“The audience gave this play a standing ovation, and for good reason…the play touches the heart.”—The Globe and Mail
Year Printed: 2013
First Produced: In 2010 at Blyth Festival, Blyth, ON.
Running Time: 120 minutes
Acts: 2
Male Cast: 2
Female Cast: 2
Total Cast: 4