Before Clare

In 1929, a baby is born in a fishing village as houses are swept out to sea off the coast of Newfoundland. Another baby is born thirty years later in Toronto. They are survivors of the Newfoundland tidal wave that Canada forgot. This story is inspired by true events.

It’s Toronto 1959 and the uptown home of Clare and Martin on the day their baby Michael is born. Clare’s mother Margaret comes to help from Point au Gaul, Newfoundland. While Clare is in the hospital with the baby, Martin has come home for a few hours to find Margaret waiting at the house. As Martin and Margaret talk and the scenes shift to Point au Gaul 1929, Martin learns the circumstances of Clare’s birth thirty years earlier and the significance of the name Michael that Clare has selected for their child.

Themes and issues

Physical and psychological impact of disasters, abandonment, isolation, bearing witness to the past, community, family.

Production history

This play has not yet been produced. It is adapted from the story Before Clare which was published by the playwright in The Dalhousie Review (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia).

Genre

Historical drama, Canadian and Newfoundland history, Newfoundland tsunami of 1929. 

Acts and run time

Three acts with eight scenes.
Run time: 90 minutes.

Cast

Five actors (3 men and 2 women). One role covers MARGARET at two ages, her mid-thirties and mid-sixties.

Margaret Tyler is a dual role with the actor playing both Margaret, mid-thirties, pregnant and giving birth in 1929 in Point au Gaul, Newfoundland, and Margaret thirty years later visiting the Toronto home of her daughter and son-in-law in 1959. In 1929 and 1959, Margaret is a force of nature, a determined and articulate woman as dedicated to the wellbeing of her family as she is to managing her own destiny. 

The entrances and exits of MARGARET have been written to allow a single actor to transition from one character to the other with a minimum of difficulty.

Diversity in casting

This is a Canadian play about Canada and diversity on stage is assumed. Roles may be cast at the discretion of the director with actors of any race limited only by the familial relationships of the characters. 

Suitable for professional theatres but version for college and community theatres

This version of Before Clare has been written for the small cast requirements of professional productions. Although college theatres and theatre schools as well as community theatres may take on the professional version, the play can also be adjusted to accommodate the larger cast needs of those venues. The playwright can provide, upon request, a casting note that indicates how the play allows for the participation of more actors. For information, contact the playwright.

To request a script or inquire about production rights, please contact the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

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