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about the play : reviews
: awards : published
: performances : excerpts
: caitlin : about
the title
Singing the Bones, the feature-length motion picture, is based on
the play of the same name written by Caitlin Hicks and published
by Playwrights Union of Canada in 1998.
Two Acts. Three characters. A play in monologue
Singing
the Bones is the story of three women whose lives are linked by a mysterious
pregnancy: Meg, a passionate midwife who believes in women's power in
birth; Nicole, a feisty, down-to-earth mother, who is pregnant with twins
and determined to birth without intervention and Sara, the compassionate
obstetrician whose secrets "are leaking from every pocket."
As Nicole's pregnancy is discovered to be high-risk, Meg must answer the
question: Is one woman's choice worth the chance that her babies may die?
On the night of the birth the dreams and secrets of all three women collide,
creating the possibility of a small miracle.
Singing The Bones is a vision into a hopeful future which
echoes our past, when women's role was at the heart of being human, when
power meant giving life. Its darkness and reconciliation offers an inspiration
for our survival, a glimpse into our possibilities as human beings.
The play was written on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, inspired
by true stories and written with support from Western Canada Theatre Company,
Tamanhous Theatre, Headlines Theatre, Firehall Arts Centre, Green Thumb
Theatre the Women in View Festival and the Canada Council. The play has
since toured over 35 cities in Canada, the United States, England and
Sweden -- to standing ovations.
REVIEWS
"Play on birth bristles with life."
-Victoria Times Colonist
"Singing The Bones" -- brilliant,
mature, educative and profoundly moving. Hicks' directness is
imbued with both style and humour. She has a pithy wit that leaves
us, her audience, wiser about the vicissitudes of the Human Condition,
yet thoroughly entertained. This is her special gift."
- Trysh
Ashby Rolls,
author of "Triumph, A Journey of Healing From Incest"
"Striking Imagery, Powerful Performance"
-Grand Forks
Gazette,
The Kootenay Tour , B.C. Canada
"Since the show I have had
so much feedback from those who came -- all of it rapturous. . . many
of us felt it was the most powerful and important play we had ever
had the fortune to attend. . .The issues dealt with in Singing
The Bones really need to be thought about and discussed in this
country."
- Sara Davies, host of Singing
The Bones
Salford University, Manchester, England
More Reviews and Quotes...
What Audiences
are Saying about
"SINGING THE BONES", the play
EXCERPTS FROM THE SCRIPT
"I was holding this precious little person in
my arms and my heart was breaking in a way only a mother can know.
This is a long moment of my life which I hold in my mind's eye. You
are looking at the little feet and his fingers shaped so small like
a doll, and he is breathing and he is warm, and all the hunger inside
of you is satisfied. You can fall asleep like that. You know you are
where the universe had put you."
- Nicole, the mother
"You can give birth to this baby! You were designed
to give birth to this baby!. . Somewhere you have a knowledge of this,
a biological memory imprinted on your X chromosome!"
-Meg, the midwife
"In Canada, it's easy to feel safe the next morning.
You can wake up in a mall surrounded by sunshine and colourful toys.
. . an early morning world, clean uniforms, a scrubbed face, productive
and intelligent, washing so much blood from sticky fingers. Starting
over the next day, cleaned and pressed, like nothing happened last
night. As if death is reluctant to strike those who smell like lotion.
As if the secret to immortality is to have a fact that has been recently
shaved."
-Sara, the obstetrician
Singing The Bones
P r o d u c t i o n H i s t o r y
Written by Caitlin Hicks *
Designed & directed by Gordon Halloran
* Produced by Third Coast Theatre
AWARDS
June, 1997, Singing The Bones chosen to
be read at the
4th International Women Playwrights Conference in Galway, Ireland
March, 1998, Honourable Mention, Crossing Borders , International
Playwrighting Contest
sponsored by Wharf Rat Theatre in Salem, Mass
PUBLISHED
SINGING THE BONES was published by Playwrights Union
of Canada
in January 1998. Copies of the script may be purchased
by calling (416) 703-0201 or by email: orders@puc.ca
Three monologues from SINGING THE BONES are featured in
"The Best Women's Stage Monlogues of 1997" published
by Smith & Kraus (New York), edited by Jocelyn
Beard.
To order: (918) 878-6388 or visit your local bookstore.
Performed
2 0 0 0
April 19th - April 30th, Factory Theatre, Toronto
May 5th, Castle Theatre,Aden Bowman CollegiateTheatre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
May 12th & 13th, Capitola Theatre, Santa Cruz, California
June 10th, Franco Manitoban Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1 9 9 9
December 5th, Association for Pre & Perinatal Psychology & Health
Cathedral Hill Hotel, San Francisco, California
1 9 9 8
Sweden/UK Tour
September 11th, Midwifery Today Conference, Ealing Town Hall, London,
UK
September 15th & 16th, Pusterviksteatern, Gothenberg, Sweden
September 22nd, 23rd, 24th, Strindberg Theatre, Stockholm, Sweden
September 30th, Mumford Theatre, Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge,
UK
October 3rd, The Chapman Theatre, Manchester, UK
October 6th, University of Sheffield, Merlin Theatre, Sheffield, UK
October 16th, Ariel Centre, Devon, UK
Tour of California
April 18th, DellArte Theatre, Eureka
April 19th, Mateel Community Center, Redway
May 5th, Beverly Hills Library Auditorium, Beverly Hills
May 11th, Center Stage Theatre, Santa Barbara
May 15th, Chico Women's Center, Chico
Readings
October 14th, University of North Dakota Memorial Union Lecture Bowl
sponsored by University of North Dakota Women's Center,
Women Studies and English Department
October 5th, Conference at Old Hill Hotel, Ramsbottom, England
November 6th, 40 Herengracht, Amsterdam, Holland
1 9 9 7
May 24th, The Raven's Cry Theatre, Sechelt, BC
August 9th, Hotel Colorado, Glenwood Springs, Colorado
October 3rd, Mariahissen, Stockholm, Sweden, International Home birth
Conference
October 23rd-24th, Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts, Calgary,
Alberta
October 25th, Stanley A. Milner Library Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta
November 1st, Doubletree Hotel, Bellevue, Washington,
Midwives Alliance of North America Conference
Tour of England
July 3rd & 4th, University of Leeds, Leeds, England, Women &
Texts Conference
July 5th, Salford University, Manchester, England
July 6th, Birmingham Women's Hospital, Birmingham, England
July 7th, Griffin Theatre Centre, Herefordshire, England
1 9 9 6
October 25th, Douglas College, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
1 9 9 5
September 23rd, The Capitol Theatre, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
September 29th, Grand Forks Senior Secondary, Grand Forks, British Columbia,
Canada
November 9th - 12th, Open Space Theatre,Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada
1 9 9 4
March 8th & 9th, Workshop production as Singing The Bones
The Rockwood Centre, Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada
1 9 9 3
April 10th, Monologue from Singing The Bones, The Rockwood
Centre, Sechelt,
British Columbia, Canada
1 9 9 2
January, First workshop production as Plutonium in Space
Women In View Festival, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
February 10, Live performance as Plutonium in
Space
Dark Horse Theatre, Station Street Arts Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
OTHER PLAYS BY CAITLIN HICKS
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