Whoo whoo, Toronto’s Fringe Festival started yesterday, and in case you are desperately trawling the internet, seeking recommendations, here is mine: The Light Between, a one-woman show written and performed by Meghan McClenaghan, about the effect of acts of violence on the everyday life of survivors. (Shameless disclosure: Meghan is a good friend of mine.)
The play can be described as series of strategies for dealing with the unbearable. It takes place over the course of a night, as the main (or rather, only) character struggles to get to sleep, but can’t shake the fears and memories that come to her in the dark. Some are general and familiar to any woman; fears of being attacked in the night, amusing/mortifying memories of early sexual endeavours in high school. Others are particular to the life story of McClenaghan which largely inspired the work; the loss of her family in a brutal and unimaginable act.
McClenaghan’s choice to put her personal and excruciating experiences in the literal spotlight, in an attempt to confront and discuss the aftermath that acts of violence leave, makes this a remarkable and intense play.
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