Anyone who has had the opportunity to see Megan in a theatre production will undoubtedly confirm that it is a pure treat to witness her talent on the stage. Having seen Megan in two previous stage productions (the first time in Hay Fever in 2001 and the second, just this past year in Soulpepper's Top Girls), needless to say I was rather excited to hear that she would be performing alongside her mother, Dawn Greenhalgh, in Marsha Norman's powerful 'Night, Mother. With a little help from my lucky stars, I was fortunate enough to head to Toronto on June 16, 2008 to see this mother-daughter acting duo for myself and yes, it was once again a pure treat.

The adorable (yep, adorable!) Distillery District, even on a somewhat cloudy day.

Arriving in the late afternoon, I made my way towards the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in the newly restored Distillery District, home of the Soulpepper Theatre Company since 2006. The Distillery District is a lovely part of downtown Toronto and its mission to develop itself "as Canada's premier arts, culture and heritage precinct" certainly shows through all the galleries, retail boutiques, performances venues and lovely cafes and restaurants. It's a joy to simply walk around, wander (even catch up on some homework sitting on a bench outside!) before the show actually starts.

Although the weather was being slightly bipolar, constantly alternating between a few showers here and there and some sunny periods, the day was still a perfect summer one and as 8 o'clock was approaching, I was getting more and more excited. I killed time by taking some pictures:

The street leading to the Young Centre, the building located at the very end of it, on the left.

Lots of bricks in the Distillery District. Which creates the pretty.

The Young Centre itself, which opened to the public on January 15, 2006.

However, before I knew it, it was time to enter the 200-seat Michael Young Theatre and get ready for the performance. Now, I'll admit it, I might be a little biased – okay, perhaps a lot biased – but from the honest point of view of an ordinary theatregoer, I found this production to be searingly honest and emotionally disquieting in the most beautiful way. The impact of both Megan and Dawn's performances translates as a punch in the stomach that lasts a whole 90 minutes, and then some. After the lights went down, I ended up glued to my seat, still trying to process not only the play's powerful last few moments, but the entire production. On a purely personal note, seeing this play was akin to being revived by those electric shocking pads, allowing some sort of current of human clarity to course through the body and experience an honest slice of life, in all its despair, beauty, love and misunderstanding. Megan and Dawn offer mesmerizing performances which are absolutely emotionally exhausting. My admiration for them both just about tripled. Their real-life mother and daughter relationship added a palpable vulnerability to the play that made the story all the more poignant. What can I say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

After the play, there was a Q&A session, for it was Talkback Tuesday at Soulpepper. A gentleman from Soulpepper – his exact job title escapes me – came out first and people asked him general questions, such as about Soulpepper's mandate, the process that goes into choosing the plays they will mount for the season and whether or not they knew that Megan and Dawn would be playing Thelma and Jessie before they decided to do 'Night, Mother. The answer to the last question is that it all came together somewhat at the same time. Alisa Palmer, the play's director – who had also directed Megan in the 2007 production of Top Girls – came to Soulpepper with the suggestion of producing Marsha Norman's 1983 classic play and having Megan and Dawn star in it. The suggestion was kept and realized!

The 'Night, Mother poster outside of the Young Centre.

After a few minutes, Megan came back on stage first, with Dawn joining her only moments later. The first question asked was what did they think the play was about, more specifically, what drives Jessie to want to kill herself. Megan wondered if perhaps the question should not be asked to the audience member, for the answer might be found in how the audience experienced and viewed the production. Many of the questions revolved around the challenging aspects of putting on this play, especially in terms of acting. A noteworthy question was, "How do you shake off this play after performing it night after night?" Megan answered that "a stiff drink might help," but that you don't really shake it off. Dawn also mentioned how exhausting performing this play is, sharing with us that for the first time in her career, she actually counted all the lines she had to say in this play. All in all, it was a lovely moment to be able to hear both actresses talk about their approach to their roles and the play overall.

After the Q&A, I was fortunate enough (my lucky stars love me) to be able to talk to Megan, thanking her for an amazing performance and letting her know about Shedding. I stressed to her that she still has an incredible amount of fans around the world who are still genuinely interested in her work, both old and new, and that my main goal with this site is to maintain a friendly space for fans to come together and to stay updated on her latest projects. While this site has only been online since January of this year, it's averaged about 160 hits per day (a total of close to 17,000 hits so far) with visitors from a wide variety of countries, namely Canada, the United States, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, the UK, Japan and many more.

Inserts of the 'Night, Mother playbill.

The most wonderful thing for me so far, in creating and maintaining this website, has been receiving feedback from Megan fans and witnessing an enthusiasm for her career that's still very present and uplifting. Megan told me that she sees this website as a great opportunity to encourage the ones who can to come to Soulpepper, support their productions, and of course, support her own career in any way we can.

For those of you who might be wondering, Megan is an absolute sweetheart. She is generous, down-to-earth and kind, and seems to be sincerely appreciative of her fans' support, taking the time to meet and talk to them. Having met Megan three times now, I can attest that she is nothing but luminous, a beautiful kindred spirit inside and out. I want to thank her again for her generosity with her time and her willingness to keep her fans in the loop.

And to anyone who has the means to, but might be having second thoughts about going to see Megan on stage, I'm telling you right now: do not! Surrender to the yearning and I promise that you will not be disappointed. A friendly reminder: Soulpepper is remounting its successful production of Top Girls in October and November. There's your chance!

I asked Megan if she could autograph a headshot to Shedding and she graciously agreed. Here it is.

Reported by DV
June 23, 2008