About the Play:

Finalist for the 1991 Governor General's Award for Drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize).

Writing With Our Feet is a full-length comedy by Dave Carley. This beautifully written piece tells the story of a man wants the world to just leave him alone. Sound familiar? Jean-Francois is an agoraphobic who finds sanctuary in his garage. Haunted by the memory of his dead sister, he learns to overcome his fears and takes a leap of faith as he struggles to re-enter the world of the living.

Writing With Our Feet tells the story of Jean-Francois who is an agoraphobic living out his life in a garage underneath an access ramp in Montréal. His beloved sister Sophie, his last link with the outside world, has just died. She had been his contact with the outside world and, now that she is gone, the future looks grim for Jean-Francois. Somehow, he must summon the courage to leave his garage – the place where he and Sophie learned to write with their feet, in preparation for that terrible day when they might lose the use of their hands. But suddenly a series of visitations begin happening – some miraculous, some upsetting. Jean-Francois' sanctuary is invaded by his Cousin Alphonsinette and her miraculous invention; his battle-axe Aunt Zenaide, the famous industrial designer Raymond Loewy, his onetime girlfriend Lucy Cormier and the parish priest, Father Rocky. Hovering above them all is Jean-Francois' guardian angel, his sister Sophie. She must furiously orchestrate her brother's emergence into the wider world, before she disappears forever into the ether. Writing With Our Feet is a black comedy about about agoraphobics, the creative impulse, and the need to fling open one's garage door and join the world.

Writing With Our Feet premiered in 1990 at Theatre Terra Nova in Hamilton and was a finalist for the 1991 Governor General's Award for Drama. Since then the play has been successfully staged at several professional and community theatres across Canada, and in college theatre productions as a showcase of student talent.

Cast: 1 woman, 1 man

What people say:

"Literate, thoughtful, bizarrely hilarious — it is a play that urges and celebrates any leap of faith." — Hamilton Spectator

"Wonderful fun! Fanciful and hyperactively witty!" — Globe and Mail

"Clever, elegant humour. Imaginative flights of fancy…" — Toronto Star

About the Playwright:

Dave Carley is a Canadian playwright. He has written for stage, radio and television. His plays have had close to 500 productions, and have been produced across Canada and the United States, and in many countries around the world. His plays have won, or been nominated for, a number of awards, including the Governor General's Award, The Chalmers Award, The Dora Award, The Arthur Miller Award (University of Michigan) and the New York International Radio Festival Award.