The gone but unforgettable Piper family of, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s enduringly popular 1996 novel that begins with that line, has lived only on the page and in readers’ imaginations for the past quarter century.
In her novel, MacDonald told the Pipers’ trauma-filled tale, set in the early 20th century, in mostly chronological order, with certain scenes repeated from different characters’ perspectives.Director Alisa Palmer and playwright Hannah Moscovitch, who are also both credited as co-creators, attempt this at times – but generally find other, more theatrical ways to make scenes similarly slippery.
James and Materia elope and – he already an orphan, she now declared dead by her father – quickly start a new family to replace the ones that they have lost. Being set mostly before, during and after the First World War, and exploring racial divides and convergences both psychological and physical, the story can seem a kind of counter to the once-dominant nationalist narratives about a Canadian identity forged through shared bloodshed on battlefields in that conflict.
A clear overarching flaw, however, lies in the show’s structure. The first part is lopsided, with a two-hour section followed by an unsatisfying coda. The second part, by contrast, features three sections of roughly equal length that breeze by. But the intermissions come out of nowhere like union-mandated breaks.