Award winning Canadian playwright, Sharon Pollock, author of the best play on the Borden case, Blood Relations, is in dire straits.
On May 27, a Canadian theatre icon awoke to a fire in her Calgary home. Although she managed to escape unharmed, playwright Sharon Pollock lost most of her possessions, including three of her beloved cats.
Damage to the house was extensive. While insurance will cover some of the cost of restoration and rebuilding, the financial burden Pollock faces is formidable.
Accordingly, the Alberta Playwrights’ Network (APN) and Downstage Theatre are hosting a benefit reading of Pollock’s celebrated 1981 Governor General’s Award-winning play, Blood Relations — a dramatic and particularly imaginative whodunit account of the infamous axe murders of Lizzie Borden’s mother and father on a muggy Massachusetts day in 1892. Directed by Downstage artistic director Simon Mallett, the reading will feature well-known Calgary actors Valerie Planche, Karen Johnson-Diamond, Katherine Kerbes, Laura Parken, David LeReaney, Kevin Rothery, and Stephen Hair.
Admission is by donation, with all proceeds going toward helping Pollock rebuild her house and replace her possessions.
With generous support from the Epcor Centre and Steam Whistle Brewery, the fundraiser takes place July 23 at 7 p.m. in the lobby of Jack Singer Concert Hall.
For further information, or to find out how to make a donation, call APN at 1-800-268-8564, or visit www.albertaplaywrights.com.
