Eleemosynary

By Lee Blessing

Directed by Liz Inman
Produced by Trevor Bonanno

El-ee-mosy-nary the winning word in a spelling contest,
daughter, mother and grandmother, Funny, perceptive and
eloquently written play about the lives of three women.

Production Dates: February 1,2,7,8,9,10*,14,15,16 2002
*matinee 2:00 p.m.

Cast
Dorothea: Jo Skilton
Artie: Mo Dwyer
Echo: Gabrielle Ackerman

Production Dates: February 1,2,7,8,9,10*,14,15,16 2002
*matinee 2:00 p.m.

W.O.D.L. Festival 2002 results
Gabrielle Ackerman – Most Promising New Talent
Liz Inman – Best Director
Jo Skilton – Best Actress
Burlington Little Theatre – Best Visually Co-ordinated Production
Burlington Little Theatre – Best Production in Festival

Burlington Little Theatre – WODL Regional Trophy
(This production will represent Western Ontario in the Theatre Ontario Festival)

Theatre Ontario Festival 2002 results
Gabrielle Ackerman – Best Juvenile
Liz Inman – Best Director
Jo Skilton – Best Actress
Burlington Little Theatre – Best Visually Co-ordinated Production
Burlington Little Theatre – Best Production in Festival

Notes
A sensitive and probing play that masterfully examines the subtle and often perilous relationship between three remarkable women: a young girl, her mother and her grandmother. The play concentrates on words and emotions as it probes into the delicate relationship of three singular women: the grandmother, Dorothea, who has sought to assert her independence through strong-willed eccentricity; her brilliant daughter, Artie (Artemis), who has fled the stifling domination of her mother; and Artie’s daughter, Echo, a child of exceptional intellect and sensitivity, whom Artie has abandoned to an upbringing by Dorothea. As the play begins Dorothea has suffered a stroke and while Echo has reestablished contact with her mother, it is only through extended telephone conversations, during which real issues are skirted and their talk is mostly about the precocious Echo’s single-minded domination of a national spelling contest. But, in the end, after Dorothea’s death, both Artie and Echo come to accept their mutual need and summon the courage to try, at last, to build a life together, despite the risks and terrors which this holds for both of them after so many years of alienation and estrangement.