Leaving Home
Encyclopedia
Leaving Home is a drama in two acts by Canadian playwright David French.
"The work is the first presented of what has come to be known as the Mercer Plays (Of the Fields, Lately , Salt-Water Moon , 1949, Soldier's Heart) and was responsible not only for introducing a unique Canadian voice to the world, but also for proving that Canadian playwrights could write plays on Canadian subjects and people would flock to see them."
, May 16, 1972, directed by Bill Glassco
. Credits included set by Dan Yarhi and Stephen Katz, costumes by Vicky Manthorpe and featuring actors Maureen Fitzgerald, Frank Moore, Mel Tuck, Sean Sullivan, Lynne Griffin
, Liza Creighton and Les
First written as a television play, French offered the work to Glassco after seeing his production of David Freeman's Creeps.
French describes the experience: "I asked him to read my play. He did. He called me and he sat there with the script in his lap. 'I like your script,' he grinned, 'but I don't think you've realized its full potential.'" French then grabbed his script and tore out on the street, calling Glassco every profanity imaginable. "Imagine my nerve. Thankfully, he chased me down the road and made me come back. The rest is history."
Leaving Home was a success in 1972, with its theme of fighting for identity in a troubled home resonating with audiences. "It's very autobiographical," French confesses. "I mean, I'm Ben in the play and yes it was cathartic writing my own story. But not everything in that play is true, of course."
French concedes he wrote the play because he loved his dad and that love needed some form of public expression. "I'm really all the characters in my plays, male and female but with my dad it was something serious. As an adolescent, we had a troubled relationship and that was my fault as much as his."
French felt that in some ways, writing Leaving Home did his dad an injustice. "Well, it was just one picture of him. That's all. You have to put all the pictures together."
said at the play's premiere, "[it] smacks of autobiography." The play introduces two families, one Catholic
and one Protestant, before a wedding rehearsal. The troubles between the two clans serve as a catalyst for exposing the troubles within the Mercer family itself; between the mother and father and particularly between one son and his father. All hell breaks loose with the family finally falling to pieces as the father refuses to attend the wedding rehearsal and the son announces he is leaving.
In an article on the creation of the work French wrote, "Each time a problem was solved, the solution in turn would create a host of other problems that had to be solved. It is a slow and stumbling way to work, but it does offer at least one consolation and a rather important one: each character in the play will be there for a definite dramatic purpose...It was the most cathartic experience of my life. The more I began to understand the relationships in the family the more moved I became. There were times I couldn't see the typewriter for tears, and times I would almost topple my chair howling with laughter at the funny things the people said and did."
Productions
"The work is the first presented of what has come to be known as the Mercer Plays (Of the Fields, Lately , Salt-Water Moon , 1949, Soldier's Heart) and was responsible not only for introducing a unique Canadian voice to the world, but also for proving that Canadian playwrights could write plays on Canadian subjects and people would flock to see them."
History
The play premiered at the Tarragon TheatreTarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. Located near Casa Loma, the theatre was founded by Bill and Jane Glassco in 1970. Bill was the Artistic Director from 1971 to 1982. In 1982, Urjo Kareda took over as...
, May 16, 1972, directed by Bill Glassco
Bill Glassco
William Grant Glassco, OC was a Canadian theatre director, producer and founder of Toronto's Tarragon Theatre....
. Credits included set by Dan Yarhi and Stephen Katz, costumes by Vicky Manthorpe and featuring actors Maureen Fitzgerald, Frank Moore, Mel Tuck, Sean Sullivan, Lynne Griffin
Lynne Griffin
Lynne Griffin is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in film, television and stage.Griffin was born in Toronto, Ontario, the daughter of Kay, an actress, and James Joseph Griffin, a fashion photographer and soccer player. Currently, she is married to fellow actor Sean Gregory Sullivan.-...
, Liza Creighton and Les
First written as a television play, French offered the work to Glassco after seeing his production of David Freeman's Creeps.
French describes the experience: "I asked him to read my play. He did. He called me and he sat there with the script in his lap. 'I like your script,' he grinned, 'but I don't think you've realized its full potential.'" French then grabbed his script and tore out on the street, calling Glassco every profanity imaginable. "Imagine my nerve. Thankfully, he chased me down the road and made me come back. The rest is history."
Leaving Home was a success in 1972, with its theme of fighting for identity in a troubled home resonating with audiences. "It's very autobiographical," French confesses. "I mean, I'm Ben in the play and yes it was cathartic writing my own story. But not everything in that play is true, of course."
French concedes he wrote the play because he loved his dad and that love needed some form of public expression. "I'm really all the characters in my plays, male and female but with my dad it was something serious. As an adolescent, we had a troubled relationship and that was my fault as much as his."
French felt that in some ways, writing Leaving Home did his dad an injustice. "Well, it was just one picture of him. That's all. You have to put all the pictures together."
Main characters
- Jacob Mercer,the Newfoundlander who finally brought his family to settle in Ontario. Portrayed as a flawed but loving father, he is a compendium of patriarchal values, and is the only character in all of the Mercer family cycle (neither Mary nor Ben are in French's - Soldier's Heart- which while being most recently written is ironically the oldest in the family's chronology). Jacob is in his fifties but looks older. A man who is used to leading his family in a patriarchal fashion, he is devastated by the new way of life and the decisions of his sons to leave home. Secretly he longs for old friends and times when he was needed.
- Mary Mercer, at fifty, Mary is a devoted mother and wife who has her hands full with her three men. She is the mediator of the family and also the confidante of the boys.
- Bill Mercer, is seventeen. He would rather stay home than marry his girlfriend, Kathy, but he must because she is pregnant. He is a little more worldly than his brother Ben.
- Ben Mercer, At eighteen, Ben is the oldest son. He is closest to Mary, but he is not a 'Mama's Boy'. His relationship with his father has always been strained.
Synopsis
The play focuses on the Mercer family, and is part of French's series of plays that revolve around that family, including Salt Water Moon, 1949, Of The Fields, Lately, and Soldier's Heart. In Leaving Home, the Mercer family is in the throes of preparations for their youngest son's (Bill) wedding to a young lady (Kathy) he has gotten pregnant. As they sit down to dinner the night of the wedding rehearsal, things erupt when Ben, the elder son, reveals he is moving out as well. Minnie, Kathy's mother, arrives and throws a wrench into the proceedings, bringing up the relationship she once shared with Jacob. When it's revealed that Kathy has had a miscarriage, the teens are left to choose whether or not they will continue with their wedding plans. he is also know a the worlds best movie.Interpretations and Observations
The piece is set in the 1950s and, as critic Herbert Whittaker of the Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
said at the play's premiere, "[it] smacks of autobiography." The play introduces two families, one Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and one Protestant, before a wedding rehearsal. The troubles between the two clans serve as a catalyst for exposing the troubles within the Mercer family itself; between the mother and father and particularly between one son and his father. All hell breaks loose with the family finally falling to pieces as the father refuses to attend the wedding rehearsal and the son announces he is leaving.
In an article on the creation of the work French wrote, "Each time a problem was solved, the solution in turn would create a host of other problems that had to be solved. It is a slow and stumbling way to work, but it does offer at least one consolation and a rather important one: each character in the play will be there for a definite dramatic purpose...It was the most cathartic experience of my life. The more I began to understand the relationships in the family the more moved I became. There were times I couldn't see the typewriter for tears, and times I would almost topple my chair howling with laughter at the funny things the people said and did."
External links
- The Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre hosted by Athabasca UniversityAthabasca UniversityAthabasca University is a Canadian university in Athabasca, Alberta. It is an accredited research institution which also offers distance education courses and programs. Courses are offered primarily in English with some French offerings. Each year, 32,000 students attend the university. It offers...
and edited by the Canadian Association for Theatre Research.
Productions
- Coming back to Home after 35 years Soulpepper's 2007 production.