Even More Shows We Like!

SINCE YOU LEFT US
What if the greatest love
of your life is you dog?
by Susinn McFarlen

The entire process of producing a "Fringe" show has been exceptionally rewarding! Not only because we get the chance to produce a rarely performed work and bring a new genre to the "Fringe" in Vancouver, but because we have met so many really interesting people along the way. Susinn McFarlen is one of them!

The day we met Susinn it was an instant "LIKE". Susinn is just plain cool! An award winning actress, with a tonne of experience in the theatre world, and a great new play to boot! We love creative people and undoubtedly she'd have some words of wisdom to share with us.

But alas, we're not here to just tell you how amazing Susinn is... you'll have to be the judge of that! She has written a play called "Since You Left Us". It has been 3 years in the making and the final results will come to fruition at the Firehall Arts Centre on September 8th.

The inspiration for this play is quite interesting and admirable. We at VanCOCO get it because we are ultimately doing the same thing in our own genre! In Susinn's own words... "Three years ago I counted the number of men over the age of 50 on stages in Vancouver. This was AFTER Bard closed. There were over 20 of them. However, not a single woman over the age of 50 was working. Right then I was determined to write a play that had interesting characters for older women. I knew that if I wrote great parts for women, I could get the best women in Vancouver to play them - because none of us were working. And I was right!".

And thus, Susinn started on her three year journey as a first-time playwright. She has already had some noteworthy success! This year she was invited to the prestigious Banff Playwright Colony to workshop the play for 2 weeks with a dramaturge and a cast and as a result she won the Larry Lillo and John Moffat Prize at this years Jessie Richarson Awards which is helping to cover the costs of self producing.

So what is the play about? Well here's the skinny...

Fanny hasn’t been home to visit her family in 15 years. Not since she sobered up. From the moment she walks in the door and sees her sister’s old dog eating dinner in a high chair and the rest of the family arrive drunk from 2 for 1 night at the local Hooters she knows it’s gonna be a difficult weekend. But when her mother’s drunken boyfriend passes out on top of the dog the entire visit is derailed. This outrageous new comedy takes us on an adventure that is unexpected and heartbreaking. SINCE YOU LEFT US is about making peace with the family you have, not the one you wish you had.

If you want to read more about Susinn, go to her website!

If you want to WIN TICKETS to her show... go here! (Beware... your going to need a dog and a camera to make this happen!).

If you want to read about the AWARD WINNING Cast and Crew (which includes a 4 legged cast member)... go here!

Other than that... just go see it!