Mother Tongue

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

Set in Vancouver, this remarkable play about family loyalties, youthful
dreams, and generational and cultural differences chronicles the
struggles of a widowed middle-aged mother and her two children—Mimi,
an aspiring architecture student, and 16-year-old Steve, who lost his
hearing at age 11—to understand and communicate their personal needs
and desires to one another. A seamless blend of different languages and
different time periods, the play challenges us to consider the barriers
created by cultural misunderstandings. Helen Keller once wrote that
“[b]lindness cuts people off from things. Deafness cuts people off
from people.” Mother Tongue is a poetic and moving exploration of the
desire to overcome separation.