By Cecilia Nasmith
As welcoming and supporting as we like to think Canada is, newcomers often find at least some degree of learning curve.
And in the latest offering in the Summer Season at Port Hope's Capitol Theatre, that learning curve takes place in a small-town prairie hospital.
Prairie Nurse is based on the true story of playwright Marie Beath Badian's mother's arrival in Canada in 1967 with a fellow Filipino nurse.
Penny (Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta) and Puring (Yunike Soedarmasto) are the title characters created by Badian, the real-life daughter of Puring (the nurse who arrives in tears because she's just seen a sign welcoming her to the land of rape and honey).
They are delivered from the airport to the hospital in little Arbourfield, Saskatchewan, by Charlie (David Ferry), and shepherded by eager candy-striper Patsy (Ellie Ellwand) and harried nurse Marie Anne (Deborah Drakeford – returning to the Capitol after her recent tour de force in Shirley Valentine).
As they start their work, they find that Dr. Miles (Iain Stewart) and lab tech Wilf (Aaron MacPherson) make a mighty effort to balance their work lives with such other interests as hockey, hunting and fishing – though Wilf might not be averse to a little romance as well.
“There's a long history of relationship between Canada and the Philippines – actually North America and the Philippines – of bringing nurses and care workers over,” director Megan Watson noted.
“Our health-care system is supported by many, many workers who graduated from nursing school in the Philippines and come to Canada.”
In this particular 1967 instance, Watson added, “Marie Beath is really clear to say that, although the play is based on people who are real, and some aspects of her mother's stories, it is very much like an imagined telling of her mother's arrival in Canada.
“It's a very creative and created exploration of her arrival. While a lot of the characters are real people and those are their names, a lot of details are fictional.”
Badian decided to continue the story by revisiting the characters at subsequent points in their lives. A sequel, The Waltz, has been completed. The third part of the trilogy, The Cottage Guest, is in development.
As for the original play, Watson said, “I get the sense that what Marie Beath has tapped into with the prairie nurse story is something that is very relatable to a lot of people. It's a coming-to-Canada story that sort of connects us with how we got where we are today as Canadians with the various waves of immigration, the diasporas from different places.
“I think Marie Beath found people could really relate to her mother's story – and this is the 10th-anniversary production of Prairie Nurse, so it has been happening in theatres across the country for the last 10 years. So many places, it really connects with people. I think that's why she is really interested in continuing on with these characters.”
Cast and crew celebrate opening night
