Marion Bridge

Valerie Senyk is director of theatre arts at Thorneloe College,
Laurentian University.

Marion Bridge is a fast-paced two-act play that explores the lives of
the three MacKeigan sisters, all in their 30s. Agnes, the eldest, is an
actress/waitress living in Toronto. Theresa, the middle sister, is a nun
living in a farming order in New Brunswick. Louise, the youngest, still
lives at home, where she cares for their mother (who is dying of an
unspecified illness).

The mother’s condition has Agnes and Theresa joining their younger
sister in the family home. Each sister is driven by personal demons. The
relationship between them is characterized by conflict,
misunderstandings, and an inability to communicate. Empathy and unity
prevail only after the sisters experience a series of personal crises.

The significance of the play’s title remains obscure until the very
end. An explanation for the delayed revelation is perhaps to be found in
the words of the ostensibly simple-minded Louise: “The thing you
shouldn’t be doing is to have a picture in your head of where you’re
going, people do that.... Maybe you shouldn’t even know where you’re
going, you’ll only know where it is when you get there. That would be
best.”