The mind is fascinating: delicate yet incredibly resilient, malleable yet sometimes unyielding. The mind is a garden, and each one is unique, requiring individual care. When cultivated and watered by a caring hand, each garden can flourish, and thereby enrich its surroundings. However, despite this potential, gardens can also grow wild from neglect and parasitic, painful thoughts. Although it is tempting to want to help others with their gardens, each person should explore and develop their own before trying to pass on any well-tested advice. Regardless, the counsel of others can be double-edged, yielding either disastrous or beautiful results. Therefore, each gardener must also learn to distinguish between those whose presence in their garden is toxic, versus those who truly want to see their garden thrive. Importantly, there are many dependable professionals who are trained to give the best help possible.
“Next To Normal” makes my heart beat and my brain whirl. The material is stunning: deeply evocative, emotionally raw, and incredibly intellectual. Going into this production, I desperately wanted to do the show justice. I had a strong vision, a deep respect for the material, and a large bundle of nerves. I also had a huge advantage: a fantastic team, willing to work with me to uncover what we wanted from the art.
Putting on this show would have been impossible if not for the work of an incredible team of students. Each and every one of them has made this experience even more enriching than I could have imagined. To our wonderful cast: each of you has been so uniquely brave in approaching the material and opening up with the others. Your dedication and focus was a true gift to a young director. Thank you. To our incredible crew and creative team: each of you was ready to create and collaborate, and always open to feedback, while processing ideas at lightning speed, and working gracefully on a student budget. Thank you. To our band: thank you for lending both your time and your immense talents to the show. Your gift of live music lifts the whole team up to a tangible, professional mindset. Thank you. To our lovely stage manager, Jiayin: your organization and dedication throughout every step of the process was more than I could have wished for. Thank you. To our dear assistant stage manager, Caroline: your rock-solid dependability was invaluable, and I’m honoured to have had your skill and passion on the team. Thank you. To our musical director, Donglai: you stepped through each new adventure in this process with grace and awe-inspiring talent. You were an invaluable member of the team, and I’m honoured to have worked with you. Thank you. Finally, to our producer, Ryan: this show would not have come to be without your support. You give so much to those around you, and I know that your selfless, generous spirit will come right back around to you and take you incredibly far. You deserve all the good things that will come your way. Thank you.
A special thank you to Marianopolis College and its staff — especially Wayne Clasper, the TLT team, and, of course, the wonderful Student Life team: Louise, Trudy, Adam, and Véronique.
And now, to our lovely audience: thank you for coming tonight, because theatre is only as special as the hearts and minds that receive it.
Enjoy the show!
Samantha Levy
Director, Marianopolis Theatre Company 2017-2018
