As you can probably guess, the use of space in this production really got me going. After the show, some of the Dolly’s House team filled me in about what a dream it was to work with Bannerman, and how helpful, generous, and accommodating the staff were. Two people mentioned to me that the staff said they could “pull a beer from the taps” as part of the show if they wanted (they didn’t, but when Nora used the bar’s sink to fetch a glass of water for Val, I felt giddy). It filled me with gratitude for the St. John’s arts communities and downtown businesses and how supportive we are of each other. Not to mention, the set was terribly perfect for the show. 

I was so enthralled that I forgot to write anything in my tiny notebook for the first portion of the show, smitten by the story and the multi-dimensional characters. Sweet, messy Nora (Olivia-Graeme McNabb): a woman enduring blow after blow, keeping her cool, and doing everything she can to hold her life—and her partner’s—together, while the world around her works against her. McNabb’s performance was a highlight of the show—funny, relatable, enchanting, and devastating all at once. Closed-off Val (Katie Billard): partner of Nora, recovering alcoholic, and soon-to-be owner of Dolly’s who doesn’t reveal much about her interior thoughts, slowly divulging throughout the play what she really thinks through reactive outbursts and cracks in her healing exterior, exposing the toxicity of her relationship with Nora; charming and hilarious Christy (Belle Warner): trying to start fresh while also keeping things to themself, partly out of perhaps not wanting to reveal too much right away and partly because of amusingly timed interruptions; Richard (Simon Alteen): Val’s sponsor and close friend of the couple, seemingly keeping it together while hiding his struggles and true intentions from the women; and all-cards-on-the-table Karson (Andrew Halliday): trying to save his job and his life from falling apart after the loss of his husband, while using blackmail tactics to get his way. All of these characters are complex, all have hidden motives, and all have unique struggles they’re dealing with—most of which affect the other characters in the show. 

Photo by Kate Clow

The first thing I wrote down was about Richard, and the moment his betrayal is brought to the forefront—after being suspected by Christy, Nora can’t accept that her friend would do that to her. He was supposed to be her friend, after all. It’s a conversation I’ve had with many of my own friends: as a woman, struggling with friendships with men, wanting to trust that the relationships are just that—friendship—while hoping that they don’t reveal one day that the only reason they were friends with you in the first place was because they wanted to sleep with you or date you, or something along those lines. So many women I know have echoed this sentiment, and its depiction on the Bannerman stage (slash bar) was flawless. Learning that a friendship wasn’t actually a friendship but instead about something the other person could get from you is devastating, especially for a person as trusting as Nora.

The ensemble work in the show was fabulous, and the love between the cast and crew of Dolly’s House comes through in the performance. From the people I spoke to after the show, Director Cassandra Munroe really brought people together for this production, knitting a tight team with care and precision. The group put this show together with only two weeks of rehearsal time—before that, the show had preview readings in Halifax and the St. John’s Short Play Festival, and the team is hoping to take it to Halifax next.

Nicole Haldoupis is a queer writer from Toronto. Her first book, Tiny Ruins (Radiant Press, 2020), was shortlisted for four 2021 Saskatchewan Book Awards and the 2022 Bressani Literary Prize. It is currently being adapted into a feature-length film by Rogue Rock Pictures. She’s the managing editor at Breakwater Books, a former editor of Grain and untethered, and an innkeeper at the Rendell Shea Manor. She lives with her partner and cat in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.