West Moon

David E. Kemp is a drama professor at Queen’s University, and the
author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

West Moon is reminiscent of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood in its
wonderful blend of pathos, humor, and lyricism. The setting is a
graveyard in a small, isolated coastal community in Placentia Bay,
Newfoundland. Each year on All Souls’ Day, the play’s 10 characters,
whose ages range from 10 to 90, rise from the dead and give energetic
voice to their memories, emotions, and opinions on everything from
politics to morality. Their movements are confined to the perimeters of
their individual grave spaces; they cannot touch or move among one
another. Much of the play’s fascination and poignancy derives from the
frustrations that inevitably accompany this partial resurrection.