Director Kerry van der Griend is no stranger to PT. He has worked on shows such as: THE SPITFIRE GRILL, GRACE, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, as well as CHICKENS and CARIBOO MAGI, written by Lucia Frangione. Read on to hear what Kerry had to say about HOLY MO! A CHRISTMAS SHOW!.
What is your favourite thing about the Holy Mo series of plays?
Holy Mo was the first Lucia play I ever saw, many years ago; and I was smitten. The humour; the slapstick; the irreverence; the silliness; the wit; the frenetic pace.
The language is rich & juicy: poetry, imagery, relationship, philosophy, spirituality, wit. All of this packed into a crazy clown comedy with characters still profoundly grounded in their humanity.
Very honoured to have directed the world premiere of the sequel.
What does Lucia/this play bring to the Christmas story that’s new?
The devel(opment) is in the details. These three clowns give us a bit of back story to the birth of the babe in Bethlehem, but play loose/interpret the Biblical characters for us in creative ways. They truly make the story their own, taking us along for the ride. You will never see a Christmas story like this anywhere else!!
The cultural cross-pollination tweaks our brains into action, and while the eventual destination of the journey is the same—the birth of Jesus—we are opened to the story in a new way.
Lucia’s treatment of the tale reminds us that not all endings are happy, that there is pain and sadness in our world, and that when we get caught up in anything for too long, we need to remember to pay attention to what is really important.
What are you most looking forward to with this production?
Working with these lovely actors and their respective lovely characters.
Each of these actors brings her unique & beautiful gifts to this story-telling adventure. Each character is drawn so differently, with different quirks, wants, needs, hang-ups. Their choices, mishaps, and foibles in the re-telling of the story will drive us to a climax, and then straight back to their humanity.
Throughout the rehearsal process, what was the most challenging aspect to the show?
Weaving so many multi-faceted details tightly enough together in 2-1/2 weeks to achieve frenzy!
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