WOW article from the Society Record, written by Melanie Perry
Adrien Rawley, Melanie Perry, Jenny Herbin and Claire Byers (left to right) practice together for an upcoming production. The Women of Wolfville presented a collaborative piece Feb. 21-23 at the Festival Theatre in Wolfville. Christy Marsters photo.
By Christy Marsters
The colourful painting stands as a tall backdrop for the
Women of Wolfville.
A bright sea of red, yellow and green compliments the darker blue sky and rock face of Blomidon as women take to the stage for an opening act of waving around shining sheers of different colours. It’s not hard to appreciate the long history of this old landmark as it has stood throughout the ages.
WOW presented the Matriarchives: Women in our Past in 2006. It outlined the value of women throughout history as it related the past to the present.
An elderly woman takes to the stage alone as the singing and lights fade out.
Introducing herself as Esther Clark Wright, an educated local woman from the 20th century, she begins reading a passage from her book Blomidon Rose.
“This is a country that takes time to get to know,” the actress clearly reads. “Neither the landscape nor the people put forward all they have in the first flush of acquaintance. There are hidden corners in the country side and unguessed depths in the inhabitants…”
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“…The audience never knows. We are transformed and forever changed.”
Sue Smiley, 47, said these words as she remembered sitting in the audience when the Women of Wolfville [WOW] put on a first production of The Vagina Monologues in 2002. The play, by Eve Ensler, relates different monologues to a recurring theme of the vagina as tool for capturing female empowerment.
Since then, she has spent five years writing, directing and acting with WOW.
WOW fosters risk-taking in a safe, supportive and fun environment, Smiley said. “I’ve fallen in love with their energy, their deep connections to each other and their professionalism as a group.”
Thea Burton, the founding director of WOW, started up the group with a friend because she fell in love with The Vagina Monologues and wanted to see it performed in Wolfville. The play became the birthing year for WOW.
The most memorable part of the performance was seeing the reaction of one man in the audience after the show, Burton said. “When he left he was so impressed he threw five $20 bills into a bucket for charity.”
“Every man should see this show,” he said to Burton as he left the theatre.
Men throughout history have been influenced by strong women in Wolfville.
The actress playing Edith Jessie Archiblad in Matriarchives addressed a stage full of women, during a scene set as a Women’s Christian Temperance Union meeting in 1885. The WCTU existed to change the social and political issues of women during those times when there was clearly a need for support.
She addressed the men who had the wisdom to help women for their right to vote in her opening speech to the group. “I come with news,” she said.
Mummers from the crowd create a strong feeling of anticipation.
“We’re nearly there, I say nearly cause we lost by one vote,” she announced.
“However, I see a day when we will all stand side by side. Women next to Men, citizens all exercising our rights,” she added offering motivated words.
“Shall we continue the struggle,” she bellows.
“Yes,” chimes the crowd as they break into the song of Sister Suffragette.
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The Chrysalis House in Kentville offers shelter and social services to women and children suffering from abuse and violence. WOW has sponsored this group since the beginning of their productions.
Thousands of dollars have been donated to the organization by WOW as they’ve offered priceless amounts of community awareness on the issues surrounding the violence and struggles of women.
Executive Director Rhonda Fraser of the Chrysalis House said it is an honour to be among the other worthy organizations receiving support from this group. “It’s wonderful to be part of the local and international community WOW brings together.”
“WOW supports our work and the larger vision of a community free from violence and abuse,” Fraser said. “As a local organization, in operation for over 24 years, we have shown support for those who are in great need.”
The funds provided by WOW support a safe shelter and outreaching services for women and children, Fraser said. “We could not continue current services without the financial support of the community and groups such as WOW.”
Proceeds from all WOW shows have supported over 30 charities throughout the years, helping local women and children as well as those in other parts of the world such as Argentina, Kenya, Malawi, Liberia and Uganda. The Women of Wolfville have raised $83, 260 and counting since 2001.
Secretary Kathy Day, in communications for WOW, said a group can’t go wrong raising money for charity or awareness of women’s issues.
Every year there is a moment in the show where something hits people on a very emotional level because knowing the productions are being generated by members of the community hits home harder, Day said.
“When this moment isn’t happening for me, I see it reflected at different times in different people. I especially love watching the direction process.”
During a recent rehearsal about a piece dealing with child abuse, the director was making a point that the women in the piece were supposed to be angry about the injustices being done to them, Day said.
“She pointed out that in the audience on any given night there could be many women who have been abused or continued to experience abuse.”
“I saw the impact it had on the women there and the difference this direction made in their performance,” Day added. “It was a very powerful moment.”
Powerful - as the moment an actress playing Alexina Florence MacKay stood theatre front with her staged daughter and granddaughter in Matriarchives.
The women were set strolling through the Old Burying Grounds, as they overlooked a grave of MacKay’s husband’s first wife named Cordelia.
Her husband, William Charles Archibald, has a known history as he founded the Wolfville Fruit & Land Improvements Co. but his wife and children are giving less mention as he abandoned them in 1902 a narrator notes.
“Man judges woman by the best in himself,” the actress playing a 50-year-old Alexina said. “The best in him didn’t stop that pompous man from leaving… he set himself above the law of God and didn’t even write.”
“Mama, do you want to leave? Is this place making you upset,” her 30-year-old daughter Ruby replied. She was 10 when her father disappeared.
Alexina sighed. “I keep thinking about the book he wrote – Home-Making and its Philosophy,” she said. “It was me who made the home when he ran off.”
The pair of women continued chatting about their struggles of living poor in the olden days without a man as Ruby’s child name Mary curiously listened.
He said educated women might not fit as “wives and mothers who strengthen the race,” Alexina said to Ruby. “But I made sure you got an education.”
“And I’m going to Acadia,” the child actress playing Mary piped in.
“You will, and I’ll be at your graduation,” Alexina replied with pride.
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WOW Director Wendy Elliott said there is pride in seeing the group come together and create something magical. “I love the creative process we go through each year. The women certainly feed something emotionally and socially deep in me. It’s also fun despite the challenges.”
The Women of Wolfville took on a new challenge with a side project of creating two tastefully naked calendars, one of women and one of men, to go along with the Bodies Without Borders production in 2005.
Taking off clothes was a huge request to fill for some people, Elliott said. “I had to overcome my fear of heights to climb up in the roof of the theatre and get an image of the all the women in a spiral.”
“I am very proud of the photo,” Elliott added.
Pat Salmon, 68, is on the production crew with WOW. She said more and more women are daring to step onstage as the group has evolved into an effective unit of women who support each other offstage as well as on.
Wow is an irresistible force in many ways, Salmon said. “So much needs to be accomplished in so little time that I just get sucked into the vortex.”
Often women see a show and begin to realize they too can make a contribution, that there are all kinds of ways to participate, Salmon said.
“You don’t have to be young or look like a model. There’s a role model for everyone on our stage and in our group. I like to think every year someone is inspired enough to come along and investigate what talent lies inside her.”
Anyone can be in the chorus of a WOW production, but if one wants a solo, spoken or musical, auditions are held. Each year the women meet at the school library for these tryouts. Transforming the simple space into an area filled with talent. “It’s always an amazing experience,” Salmon said.
“Little girls turn out to have huge voices. Someone who is normally shy blooms right in front of your eyes. Dental assistants start tap-dancing,” Salmon said. “It is unbelievable what is hidden inside so many people.”
Far more than the glitz, WOW includes women of all ages and abilities, Salmon added. “Recognizing individual strengths by demonstrating each one of them is valuable and needed.”
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Susan Markham-Star has watched six performances put on by WOW.
“I am inspired by the talents and commitments of these women,” she said.
“There appears to be fluid, open and welcoming dynamic to the group.”
Psst: Wanna Know a Secret? was the collaborative creations presented by WOW this year as it was held at the Festival Theatre in Wolfville Feb. 21-23.
Co-director Emily Levy-Purdy said this production came straight from the creative spirit of women and captured the group dynamic really well.
The cast members this year ranged in ages from five to 92.
This year’s show was a little less weighty as compared to other years, with topics such as beauty secrets, secret lovers, secret agents and secret marriage tips were being explored, Levy-Purdy said. “I think it’s amazing.”
The weight of a final song in Matriarchives hit hard as everyone in the production sung Still the Song Lives On: A song for Helen Creighton.
Each woman holding a picture of another historic local lady as she sang.
It was an amazing to witness these women fill the stage and sing as they paid appreciations to the women in history who impacted the area before them.
When the song concluded and the women walked into the audience, each leaving their respected black and white photos on stage in silence, the applause from the audience spoke to the quality of the production as much as to the history of these women. They forever set the stage for new generations.
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Caroline Burton, 12, has worked with WOW for five years. She began acting alongside her mother, Thea, who has been with the group since the beginning.
The shows are different every time but it’s always nice to spend time with the older women, Caroline said. “When you’re in a group of a lot of women you have to be outgoing. It’s nice because you get to rehearse and do fun things.”
Thea said theatre is a great experience to share with her daughter.
“It’s nice because when we’re in the show we relate differently, she said. “More like peers instead of like mother and daughter.”
In 2007, during Lost and Found, Thea watched her daughter take to the stage and perform a personal piece about the loss of her father.
Caroline recall the day her father announced he was leaving the family and filing for divorce. She shared this moment with a packed audience as her mother watched in awe at the sight of her daughter’s strength.
It was stunning to see her stand up and share this story, Thea Burton said. “As a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved. It helped her to let go.”
Thoughts communicated honestly in theatre they connect better, she added “I’m always amazed by how these plays come together in the end. The messages are strong because the performances are honest and real.”
Sidebar story:
Men played important roles throughout Women of Wolfville productions.
Thea Burton said the men haven’t been onstage performing since Lysistrata because of a lack in interest, but they continue to be involved in production and back stage work.
“We like to call them our honorary vaginas.”
Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison has also been involved with WOW when he agreed to pose for the men’s calendar in 2006.
Some took offense to the photo, but it was for a good cause, Brison said.
“I told those who were bothered by it just to turn the other cheek.”
The calendar photo displayed Brison in a tastefully nude image behind a refrigerator door. Proceeds from the calendar, entitled That’s What Men Are Made Of, were donated to ovarian and breast cancer research.
WOW has been able to bring together cultural entertainment and equality in a great way as they educate about social issues, Brison said. “I’m proud of them and support their efforts to build a better Canada.”
