Picture this: a sixteen-year old still sees and talks to her imaginary friend, and one day her mother – who is falling apart from a recent divorce – does too.
That’s the basic premise of the Belfry Theatre’s newest play Mustard, which runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 25.
“It’s really about the renegotiation of family and what happens when a family fractures,” said director Stephen Drover. “How do we move forward when we have to say goodbye to family members?”
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Mustard, written by Toronto playwright Kat Sandler is making its Victoria debut after being featured in Toronto in the past, and running with the same cast in Vancouver in October. The Vancouver-based cast includes Andrew McNee (Mustard) and Jennifer Wasko-Paterson (the mother, Sadie) who attended theatre school together and make their first on-stage reunion since 2003.
When McNee first read the script he felt the part was written for him.
“Playing Mustard for me is mostly about removing any filters that I have,” McNee said. “There’s something really magic about that level of inhibition and freedom, and playing with no self-consciousness, and it’d be great if people could remember that in themselves a little bit.”
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For Wasko-Paterson, her character tries to balance the important relationships between a mother-daughter, a woman and a romantic interest, and a person with her own self.
“She is having a rough go. She is separated from her husband, her daughter is acting out and she’s just a complete mess,” Wasko-Paterson said. “Throughout the course of the play she kind of learns how to move on.”
The cast also includes Heidi Damayo (Thai), Brett Harris (Bug), Shekhar Paleja (Leslie) and Chirag Nai (Jay) who are all making their Belfry Theatre debuts.
The show will run Tuesdays to Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at Saturdays at 8 p.m. and offers select Matinee shows on November 7, 14, and 21 at 1 p.m., as well as Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
For more information or to purchase tickets, you can head to belfry-theatre.prezly.com/mustard.
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