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The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
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Author: Robert Chafe Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press Format: Softcover # of Pages: 192 Pub. Date: 2017 ISBN-10: 1770915761 ISBN-13: 9781770915763 Cast Size: 3 women, 8 men
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About
the Play:
Finalist for 2017 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama (Canadian
equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize)
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams is a full-length drama
adapted for the stage by Robert Chafe, based on the 1998 novel
of the same name by Wayne Johnson.
A sweeping drama of personal and political ambition follows
soon-to-be Premier Joey Smallwood as he propels the Dominion of
Newfoundland into union with Canada in 1949. Both saint and sinner,
the charismatic, controversial Smallwood is hounded every step of the
way by witty, booze-soaked reporter Sheilagh Fielding – his
intellectual equal and lifelong nemesis.
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
is a fictionalized retelling
of the story of Joseph R. Smallwood – the self-described "Last
Father of Confederation" – the controversial political figure
who ambitiously led Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada, and
who served at its first premier for 23 years.
Spanning two decades, the
action moves swiftly from year to year and place to place, following
Smallwood and a slew of characters, both fictional and historical, as
they navigate the terrain of Newfoundland politics. The
story is anchored and propelled by one of Wayne Johnson's
most memorable creations: the fictitious Sheilagh Fielding, a caustic
newspaper columnist whose own battles with the past and alcohol
addiction find full vent and expression in her tireless dogging of
Smallwood's climb to power. At its heart, The Colony of
Unrequited Dreams is the story
of a man whose career is buoyed and sometimes sunk by his unresolved
feelings for a woman he never allowed himself to love. It is also the
story of Newfoundland's final years as a country, the end of one
cultural and political trajectory, and the beginning of another.
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams premiered
in 2015
at the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's,
Newfoundland. The show was
remounted in 2017 and toured to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa,
to Halifax's Neptune Theatre, and to the Grand Theatre in London,
Ontario.
Cast: 3 women, 8 men
What people say:
"From its opening scene of a
familiar seaside winterscape, The Colony of Unrequited
Dreams is a distinctly and proudly Atlantic Canadian play.
Adapted by Robert Chafe from the beloved novel by Wayne
Johnston, the production maintains the sweeping saga of
the source text, following the mostly true story of Joseph Smallwood,
the unassuming politician who saw Newfoundland into Confederation."
— The Coast
"Robert Chafe's
writing is clean, spare, poetic and vivid in describing the story of
this most unlikely of leaders. Chafe captures the smarmy
condescension of all the people who came from away to govern the
island and put down Smallwood but the writing also shows the spunk
and tenacity of Smallwood. Chafe's writing is so good one naturally
wants to read the source material written by Wayne
Johnston." — The Slotkin Letter
About the Playwright:
Robert Chafe is a Canadian playwright and actor who has
worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction and film. His stage
plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and in
the United States. He has been shortlisted twice for the Governor
General's Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for
Afterimage in 2010. He has been guest instructor at Memorial
University of Newfoundland, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and The
National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary
doctorate from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is currently
Playwright in Residence and director of Artistic Fraud Theater in St.
John's Newfoundland.
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