Gleams troupe returns with Fosse gem

Such is the premise of Gleams Theatre’s current production ‘Mother and Child’, the North American premiere of Norwegian author Jon Fosse’s play.

The mother, torn apart by her life as a mother and her desire to have a career, leaves her son to be brought up by the grandparents. Years later, they try to reconnect and discover that they have no stable relationship—yet struggle to reconnect.

Ira Sokolova, also Gleam Theatre’s founder, plays the mother, while David Wheaton plays her son. Sokolova’s husband, Constantin Sokolov, directs the play.

Sokolova chose Fosse’s play because it "has a lot of layers that are not necessarily connected with the words. You have to dig under the words to find the psychological thinking of the characters."

She explains that Fosse’s writing is very sensitive, emotional and poetic.

Having also visited the rural areas of Norway, she felt she could understand the situation the mother and child were brought up in.

"You can feel the characters; they are not just black and white," she says.

The depth Fosse put into the characters is another reason the Sokolovas chose this play.

Westmount-based Gleams Theatre company strives to bring contemporary and unknown theatre to Montreal, such as Fosse’s 'Mother and Child', and 'The Guitar Woman' which they staged last year. They want Montrealers to discover Fosse, virtually unknown to North America, but one of the best-known playwrights in Europe. Just as the estranged mother and child discover their past and their undiscovered similarities, Sokolova and Wheaton have found they are oddly alike too during their rehearsals, even though they were strangers before.

"We have a lot of things in common," she says. "There’s a point in the play we always smile, because it’s true—when the mother says ‘you and I are more alike than you think.’�

Although Sokolova has years of experience, working as an actress across Europe, she quickly got along with Wheaton, who just graduated from Dawson’s professional theater program. Wheaton also has a B.A. in biology, but returned to school to pursue his passion for the stage. Both have found out that like the mother and child from the play, that even if they are strangers, they can start to love one another and build a relationship.



Mother and Child premieres on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. at Mainline Theatre, 3997 St. Laurent Blvd. Performances continue October 12-15 at 8 p.m., with weekend matinees at 3 p.m. Performances in Westmount will be presented at Victoria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke W, from November 15 to 17. Call 514-934-0535 for tickets.