High hopes
Globe main stage play has a small cast but big themes
Paul Bogdan
A&C Writer
Midway through their 2010-11 season, The Globe Theatre is in full swing. With two successful main stage performances this season, Metamorphosis and Honk: a Musical Tale of the Ugly Duckling, the Globe is looking to keep their momentum going with the upcoming production, Having Hope at Home.
“I think that [the audience] can expect to have a great time,” says Laura Condlln, one of the leads in Having Hope at Home. “[They should] expect to be surprised, in a good way.”
When asked what the play was about, Condlln and other overhearing Globe Theatre employees could only chuckle. Condlln plays Carolyn, a woman hosting a tension-filled family dinner at her farmhouse, but she said it was about more than just a family dinner. “Having Hope at Home is about love and forgiveness, family, understanding, a turkey dinner, a baby, choice, points of view, conflict and tension, humans; humans that are mostly related to each other in one way or another … most of all it’s about family, and how one deals with one’s family.”
Because family is such a universal subject, it is likely that the audience will have little trouble identifying with the performance and the characters. “This play … functions very well because it is … relatable,” Condlln explained. “You see a family up there, you hear the lines, you hear people pushing buttons, you see how it happens, and you can place yourself in that situation in your world so quickly [and] so easily. I think that’s why this play works.”
The characters also look to be another element of the play that the audience can get a hold of, such as the protagonist’s disapproving parents or cantankerous grandfather. “Each [character] is [interesting]; I haven’t met a character I haven’t liked in this piece.”
In Condlln’s words, the play incorporates themes of forgiveness and acceptance; it’s about “allowing people to be who they are whether you agree with it or not, finding the generosity in yourself to step back and allow that to happen.”
Despite the earnest underlying themes, Condlln says that Having Hope at Home still retains a large comedic aspect to it. “It is a comedy, definitely; it’s a comedy, but with lots of different shades of drama because it’s a very human piece, and I think we, as humans in the height of our personal tragedies, are often very funny. There’s humour everywhere, and I think wit is very, very important.”
With Having Hope at Home, the Globe is striving to present an easily identifiable and relatable performance that can present a deliberate theme but still have a strong comic presence in it. Condlin encouraged readers to beat the winter cold and “come in, get warm and cozy, and enjoy [yourself] for an hour and a half.”
Having Hope at Home is a Globe Theatre main stage production. It will run from Jan. 27 to Feb. 13. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased from the Globe Theatre box office, in person or online.
