About the Play:

Finalist for the 1994 Governor General's Award for Drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize)

Whale Riding Weather is a full-length drama by Bryden MacDonald. The story of three gay men of different generations stuck in a painful love triangle. When Lyle, an aging queen in mental decline, and his younger lover Otto invite the free-spirited and beautiful Jude into their home, their lives and relationships begin to unravel as sparks begin to fly. Whale Riding Weather thoughtfully reflects on the ravages of aging and loneliness in a heartbreaking and hopeful play.

Whale Riding Weather recounts the story of Otto and his aging partner Lyle, a gay couple gripped by years of indifference towards life and each other and stuck in a cycle of despair and isolation due to Lyle's failing mental capacities and Otto's mental health and substance abuse issues. Their self-imposed exile is thrown into question when Otto uncharacteristically brings a young man, Jude, home from a local bar. Jude's youthfulness and zest for life begin to throw Otto and Lyle's mere existence into question as Otto must decide to stay on as Lyle's partner and caregiver or move on and find happiness again by joining Jude in a new life and hopeful future.

Bryden MacDonald says: "One day when I was sitting in a tiny little basement bar I noticed a man sitting alone at the bar – an elegant old queen with snowy white hair perfectly sculpted around his translucent face. His eyes could have been any colour… they were empty. He remained very still, holding a brandy snifter with great reverence while a steady stream of tears flowed down his cheeks. I suddenly found myself inventing his history, wondering what it must have been like for him growing up gay – maybe in a small fishing village on the east coast. Had he been ridiculed by his peers? Disowned by his parents? Did he run to a big city at too early an age? This beautiful, unapproachable man at the bar had literally conjured Lyle, and that day Whale Riding Weather began to become a reality."

Whale Riding Weather premiered in in 1991 at Factory Theatre in Toronto. A Finalist for the Governor General's Award for Drama and nominated for both the Chalmers and Dora awards, the play has been a big hit in other cities across Canada.

Cast: 3 male

What people say:

"Powerfully written… succeeds mainly because of MacDonald's ability to create empathy for his emotionally hungry and interdependent characters… The writer is the star here." — Toronto Star

"MacDonald's script, a roller-coaster ride of pain and humour and pathos and love, is an actor's drea." — Vancouver Sun

"MacDonald has become a colourful voice in Canadian theatre." — Globe & Mail

About the Playwright:

Bryden MacDonald is a Canadian playwright, director, dramaturge and teacher. His first published play, Whale Riding Weather, was a Finalist for the Governor General's Award for Drama. He is the creator of theatrical interpretations of the words and music of Leonard Cohen (Sincerely, A Friend), Carol Pope and Rough Trade (Shaking the Foundations), and Joni Mitchell (When All the Slaves are Free). He has taught and coached students at The National Theatre School of Canada and McGill University, served as resident dramaturge at Playwrights Workshop Montréal, and was the mentoring director for Imago Theatre's Inaugural Directors' Gym. He has conducted workshops or been artist-in-residence or guest artist at a number of theatres and festivals across Canada. He has sat on juries at The Canada Council and been a member of the board of directors for The Quebec Drama Federation. He is happy to be making his home in Nova Scotia again.