Morris Panych’s Governor General’s Award-winning play Girl in the Goldfish Bowl is coming to Vernon’s Powerhouse Theatre stage this week.
The play, set near Vancouver in 1962, takes place during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis and while the world is at the edge of its seat, Iris, a young girl, is preoccupied with the events that lead up to the “last few days of her childhood.”
And it all started when her goldfish, Amahl, died.
Director Cara Nunn said this script was especially intriguing to her.
“I like stories with some depth to them and this one hit lots of my emotions,” she said. “I thought it would do the same for our audiences.”
“I also like that it was not a straightforward, linear story, so that as an audience, we would be able to reflect the story inside ourselves and find individual meanings,” she continued.
That non-linear format also presented some challenges, Nunn said.
“Each actor needed to dig into the full story to find the connections to their character and to live,” she said. “This is challenging, yet the most rewarding work for actors.”
Nunn said the show will have plenty of surprises for its audiences — from dialogue to special effects.
But she said people will be surprised most by the feeling they leave with.
“The poignancy of life is so well described by this script,” Nunn said.
The Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, starring Peter Byrnes, Nevada Christensen, Beverley Peacock, Jacs Spence and Kristine Larsen, will be performed at the Powerhouse Theatre starting Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
The show runs through to Saturday, Feb. 22, with a Matinée Sunday at 2 p.m. A second week of performances will run from Feb. 26-29.
Tickets are available online at powerhousetheatre.net, 250-549-SHOW (7469) or at the box office.
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