SURREY — Marie-Louise Painchaud lives in Lovely, a fictional town in a francophone corner of Northern Ontario. Charming and effervescent, she’s the postal clerk who seems to know a little something about everyone – and isn’t afraid to share their stories with anyone who visits the post office, mail in hand.
It’s a role fit for Patricia Cano, who stars in Tomson Highway’s one-woman show called “The (Post) Mistress,” which plays Surrey Arts Centre starting next Wednesday night, Jan. 11.
The play, part of the Arts Club on Tour series and billed as “a uniquely Canadian cabaret full of music and charm,” has Cano singing in English and French backed by musicians Michael Creber (on piano) and Chris Startup (saxophone).
The show was staged last February at BMO Theatre Centre in Vancouver, and this week begins a month-long tour of Metro Vancouver venues.
CLICK HERE for show and tour details.
“‘The (Post) Mistress’ is a beautiful musical about the size of the human spirit,” notes director John Cooper. “It celebrates transcendence and resilience in the human experience, and Tomson (Highway) creates remarkably fresh imagery that informs and frames both the story and the music.”
(Story continues below show promo video)
According to a biography, Highway was born in a snow bank on the Manitoba/Nunavut border to a family of nomadic caribou hunters, and spoke in two languages (Cree, his mother tongue, and Dene). He studied music and English literature, and for several years immersed himself in social work before turning his attention to writing plays, novels and music.
He shares an artistic bond with the Sudbury, Ontario-raised Cano, a Peruvian-Canadian singer who loves a good Brazilian samba, an Afro-Peruvian rhythm and vocal-jazz riff.
Prior to a concert at Harrison Memorial Hall last March, Andy Hillhouse, the Harrison Festival artistic director, raved about Cano’s musical abilities.
“She is a singer who I seek out when I go to showcase events because I just love watching her perform,” Hillhouse told the Chilliwack Times. “She just really gets inside the music and is a pleasure to hear and watch.”
For performances of “The (Post) Mistress” at a Toronto theatre in October, Cano sang while Highway played piano.
The play’s only character is middle-aged and married, and she appears to know the contents of all the letters that pass through the mail hub that employs her.
“At first, we suspect her of steaming them open, like the village postal lady in Dylan Thomas’ ‘Under Milk Wood,’ but her methods turn out to be far more rarefied,” reviewer Robert Cushman wrote in the National Post. “Most of them are love letters, telling of steamy encounters in exotic locales like New Orleans, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. These provide Marie-Louise, who has never even been on a plane, with a rich fantasy life. They also provide the show with its songs; Highway has written an effective series of musical pastiches.”
In Surrey, an opening-night ticket includes appetizers served in the arts centre lobby. Other promos include a “First Friday” offering of dessert and coffee after the Jan. 13 show, and a “Paint at the Play” art camp for kids during the 4 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Jan. 14. Also, the 4 p.m. performance on Jan. 21 offers VocalEye audio description for theatre-goers who are blind or partially sighted.
Note that Cano plays Marie-Louise in all performances of “The (Post) Mistress” in Surrey, save for the matinee on Jan. 21, when Cailin Stadnyk is in the spotlight.
CLICK HERE for more show details in Surrey.
Show tickets range from $25 to $55 at the arts centre box office, 604-501-5566, or visit Tickets.surrey.ca.
tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com