#FridayReads

As part of the Purple Play Club, held this past September, we asked participants to share pictures of themselves reading in their community. Those who did were entered to win a yearlong subscription to curated library bags delivered to their door each month. Doug Mertz took home the prize!

Doug received his January bag this week (curated by Liz Nicholls) and we would like to share it with you!

Take a look at Liz’s picks and her reasons for choosing them! 

Little One and Other Plays and East of Berlin by Hannah Moscovitch
One of the most interesting voices in Canadian theatre who, like Daniel MacIvor has used the “monologue” to original and intriguing purposes, since the actor onstage has such a nuanced, equivocal and disconcerting relationship with the audience. I love the way vivid characters and disturbing socio-cultural questions emerge, surprisingly, from a theatrical fabric you think you understand! I’d bet Doug, as an actor, loves that too.

Age of Minority by Jordan Tannahill
A collection of three plays by a very distinctive (and young!) playwright.

The Margin of the Sky by Stewart Lemoine
Strange and original kind of storytelling, in which music itself (and daunting music at that) turns out to be a life-changer. Lemoine isn’t much produced anywhere but here, which is strange. The volume also includes Pith! And Shockers Delight!

Moving Along by Chris Craddock
Very interesting and touching – both theatrically and psychologically – as a way of bringing personal memoir to the stage. Actually, Doug Mertz would be great in Moving Along.

A rare example of a born Albertan, Liz Nicholls has had the privilege of covering Edmonton theatre — Alberta’s true growth industry — for more than three decades for the Edmonton Journal. In this new year, she’s taking her theatre writing indie and online, at 12thnight.ca, and will
continue to share the excitement of the theatre scene here.

~ Solveig Anderson, Librarian