Bea's Niece

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

David Gow is a professional actor and playwright whose works include
Cherry Docs, The Flight of Peter Pumpkin Eater, and The Friedman Family
Fortune. Bea’s Niece uses a nonlinear structure to chronicle the
struggles of Anne Hirsch, a 50-year-old novelist with a serious mental
illness who is trying to regain her sense of reality. Rich storytelling,
strong characterization, unconventional dialogue, and multiple voices
are among the tools Gow uses to get inside the mind of his heroine. His
exploration of psychosis is by turns sad and hilarious, tender and
terrifying; that it inspires our compassion and understanding is no
small achievement. Bea’s Niece was first produced in 1999 by the 25th
St. Theatre in Saskatoon.