fall on your knees ann marie macdonald summary

“ One of the many reasons we wanted to join in the collaboration to bring this work to life, is the way in which Ann-Marie and then Alisa and Hannah after her, have centered marginalized narratives – stories about women, homosexuality, and interracial relationships – into a historical framework. “ We are incredibly excited to have the honour of presenting the World Premiere of this legacy production at Canadian Stage ,” says Artistic Director Brendan Healy. I am so grateful to all the incredibly talented artists, especially Hannah Moscovitch and Alisa Palmer, for boldly and beautifully bringing it to life. “ I ended up bringing the story to light as a novel, but I’ve always cherished the vision of it as a three-dimensional experience for a live audience. This makes sense because I was, and am, a playwright ,” says Ann-Marie MacDonald. FALL ON YOUR KNEES began, in my mind, as a play. “ Seeing FALL ON YOUR KNEES brought to fruition as a piece of theatre is the fulfillment of a process that began long ago when I first started writing what would become the novel. Inspired to create a work in which music and narrative would be intimately woven, the pair invited composer Sean Mayes to join their collaboration. The stage adaptation is co-created by renowned theatre artists Alisa Palmer, who directs the production, and playwright Hannah Moscovitch, who developed the work over the course of a decade. Moving and finely written, Fall On Your Knees is by turns dark and hilariously funny, a story-and a world-that resonate long after the last page is turned. Together they weave a tale of inescapable family bonds, of terrible secrets, of miracles, racial strife, attempted murder, birth and death, and forbidden love. The mythically charged Piper family-James, a father of intelligence and immense ambition, Materia, his Lebanese child-bride, and their daughters: Kathleen, a budding opera Diva Frances, the incorrigible liar and hell-bent bad girl Mercedes, obsessive Catholic and protector of the flock and Lily, the adored invalid who takes us on a quest for truth and redemption-is supported by a richly textured cast of characters. The story moves from the battlefields of the First World War to the emerging jazz scene in Harlem, NY, and into the lives of four unforgettable sisters.

MacDonald’s first novel, Fall On Your Knees is a sweeping work of historical fiction that chronicles three generations of Cape Breton Island’s Piper family. This stage adaptation is the combined partnership between five organizations, bringing this momentous production first to Toronto, then to London, Ottawa, and Halifax. This January, Canadian Stage presents the history-making two-part stage adaptation of author Ann-Marie MacDonald’s internationally acclaimed and best-selling novel Fall On Your Knees, on stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto, January 20 – February 5, 2023.

Fall on your knees ann marie macdonald summary