Since You Left Us, Sept. 17 to 28 at Presentation House Theatre, 333 Chesterfield Ave., North Vancouver. Tickets: $14- 28 at phtheatre.org or 604-990-3474. Since You Left Us is set to open in a matter of days and playwright Susinn McFarlen has just finished her fourth rewrite in 48 hours.
"Ultimately, it makes for a better show," says McFarlen, who produced a draft version of the play at the 2011 Vancouver International Fringe Festival. She refers to that initial Fringe run as a "workshop" because the script has changed so much since then.
"I would say probably a quarter of the show is the same and about threequarters is different."
The revised version of Since You Left Us makes its world premiere Sept. 17 to 28, kicking off the 2014/15 season at Presentation House Theatre. Despite all of McFarlen's tweaks, the scenario remains much the same. Recovering alcoholic Fanny reluctantly returns home to her dysfunctional family for first time in 15 years. She's travelled to Vancouver from Toronto to retrieve her 17-yearold runaway son Danno, who wants to get to know his relatives. When Fanny walks in the door, she sees her sister's beloved old Jack Russell terrier being fed in a highchair while the rest of the family stumbles in drunk from the bar. A turbulent reunion ensues.
"It really is a wacko comedy," McFarlen says, explaining her revisions have made the play even funnier than it was. "I used to feel that the first act was very, very funny and the second act was serious, and now the second act is even funnier than the first act, so I think it's a much more successful comedy."
This production is directed by Amiel Gladstone and stars Jillian Fargey, Erla Faye Forsyth, Colleen Wheeler, Mike Wasko, Derek Metz, Mike Gill and a plush Jack Russell terrier (McFarlen put out a call, but couldn't find a real canine to take on the role).
Since You Left Us is the first play McFarlen has written. The veteran actor and two-time Jessie Award winner says the story was inspired by her own experience with alcoholism in the family.
"I wanted to put out there what it's like in my family, where people are really struggling because of the family systems that develop as a result of alcoholism," she says. "But I also wanted to show that in the families of alcoholics, there is just as much love as in any other family."
McFarlen's family is also "very, very funny," she says - much like the stage family she created. "I'm not poking fun at alcoholism. I'm saying, 'This is a wacky, crazy family. Look at them, love them.'"
It wasn't just a good story idea that awoke McFarlen's inner playwright. She also took up writing in an attempt to create some meaty roles for female actors - particularly older female actors.
"What made me write a play is that there's no good roles for women anymore," says the 58-year-old. "The women just drop out of the business, and they don't drop out because they want to, but because there aren't enough roles."
A few years ago, McFarlen and two other women formed Wet Ink Collective, an initiative that supports female playwrights to write scripts with strong female leads.
"We want great stories about women, female protagonists, roles for women that aren't just the old granny who everyone makes fun of or the self-sacrificing mom. We're looking at role models for women and so Since You Left Us is my attempt at telling a woman's story."
As McFarlen's play synopsis succinctly concludes, Since You Left Us "is about making peace with the family you have, not the one you wish you had." "This is a comedy about a family and about love and also about alcoholism," she sums up. "It's dark, it's outrageous."
Coming up at Presentation House Theatre: Rebel Women (Oct. 3-12), Little Voices (Oct. 23 and 24), Antony Holland's Not Going Gentle (Oct. 25 and 26), Where the Wild Things Are (Nov. 7-16), PHTheatre Annual Holiday Spectacular! (Dec. 11-14 and 18-21).
