CONFESSIONS OF A RELUCTANT CAREGIVER Comes to the Studio Theatre at the ATB Arts Barns

Mae, a struggling young actress, loses both of her parents to cancer. Peggy- her kind, peacemaker mother- dies of cancer in 1995. Six years later, when Mae moves back home to care for her terminally ill father, she imagines moments of reconciliation and grace. But unlike Peggy, Al does not handle the treatment with any sort of grace and Mae struggles with her role as his caregiver. As her father's health declines, his obsession with the Sci-Fi Network and creating a machine to deliver him to another dimension intensifies. Mae summons memories of her mother for guidance, and with humor and compassion strives to reach her final goal...to give her father a good death.

Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver is a play chronicling playwright Merri Biechler's experience as caregiver to her mother and father before their deaths due to cancer. Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver has now become part of the medical school curriculum in Ohio and is performed for students every year when they study geriatrics. The play demonstrates on a personal level how families transition when faced with an incurable illness and illustrates with humour and compassion the importance of having discussions that focus on palliative care, hospice, and end of life issues.

This script was the winner of the Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award and a finalist in the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta) and the Princess Grace Award in Playwriting. It has been adapted into a feature length film, The Passageway.

With Direction, Set & Costume Designs by Trevor Schmidt, the creative team includes Lighting Design by Roy Jackson; Sound Design & Original Music by Dave Clarke; Stage Management by Nyssa Beairsto.

Tickets are available at Northern Light Theatre: $30 Adult, $25 Student/Senior, $20 Sunday Matinee (prices do not include GST).

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