Firehall Arts Centre is now presenting the Canadian debut of Patricia Cornelius’ SHIT. Directed by Firehall Arts Centre’s Artistic Producer Donna Spencer, the profane and provocative production is an in-your-face look at the lives of three women.
The trio, played with stunning realism by Yoshié Bancroft, Kayla Deorksen, & Sharon Crandall appear to exist on the sidelines of society. Amidst random musings on life and conversations of nothing in particular we learn a bit more about their stories. All three have grown up in the social care system, with a revolving door of foster families, some good but most worse. Learning early to fend for themselves without reasonable facsimiles of good parenting they’ve made their way to adulthood on their wits and street skills. They each have varying degrees of longing for something better while at the same time are resigned to their lot in life.
photo: Emily Cooper
The Aussie play translates easily to the Canadian stage in both dialogue and content, and SHIT seems tailor made for Vancouver scene. The three women could easily have been plucked from Vancouver’s downtown Eastside, just steps from the Firehall Arts Centre, where we’d surely find similar stories playing out daily. While the language and content will surely shock some viewers and make it difficult to listen to, these are the stories that are important for us to hear. By making us sit, watch and listen, the audience realizes how easily society prejudges certain members of the community based solely on their appearance and vocabulary. Here we see deeper and gain an awareness of what these women have been through and fight against each day.
Patricia Cornelius’ SHIT plays until February 10th at Firehall Arts Centre. For information and tickets visit firehallartscentre.ca