Experience The Boy in the Moon - Western Canada Theatre

Experience The Boy in the Moon

by James MacDonald, WCT Artistic Director

Today we would have welcomed the special presentation of the Neworld Theatre production of The Boy in the Moon to our stage.

Why I had selected this show for our 2019/20 Season:

The Boy in the Moon is based on the memoir of well-known Canadian writer Ian Brown, detailing the experiences of his family (his wife is journalist Johanna Schneller) in raising their son, Walker, who was born with cardiofaciocutaneous, an extremely rare genetic disorder. The play is profoundly moving, expressing and exploring aspects of family, love, and relationships to which we can all relate, no matter our particular family circumstances. Speaking recently about Walker, Brown said “The more we move away from our focus on being the best, and instead work on how we are relating to other people—that seems more important to me these days.” Excellent advice for the days in which we are living.

The book was adapted by Canadian playwright Emil Sher, who gained fame in the early 1990s for writing a play about the Robert Latimer case, also a story which involved a father’s relationship with a disabled child. “The Walkers of the world, in all the best ways, force us to see life through a different lens,” says Sher. “It helps to have truths we already know restated, just to remind us of their importance in shaping who we are and how we interpret the world. I was reminded in tackling this book that life is complex and layered. It’s not black and white. And I think it’s in the greys that we discover what life is all about.”

I was also attracted to this play because it offered us a wonderful opportunity to have our very first Relaxed Performance, for audience members who would benefit from a more relaxed sensory experience and casual environment, including (but not limited to) patrons with an Autism Spectrum condition, a sensory processing disorder, or a learning disability. We look forward to having another chance soon to welcome new audiences to our theatres.

In the meantime, please find below some ways you can experience The Boy in the Moon at home.

How to experience The Boy in the Moon when you cannot see the play 

Book: Ian Brown's memoir, The Boy in the Moon – available on-line at the TNRD Library

Podcast: Interview with the playwright Emil Sher and author Ian Brown on the CBC podcast PlayME.

Audiodrama: A three-part podcast drama. Scroll down the page to find the links at PlayMe.