Waiting for the Parade

by John Murrell

Overview

Waiting for the Parade is John Murrell’s play, set in Calgary during World War II, in which five women gather to work for the war effort while their men are away. Waiting for the Parade was first performed by Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary. Subsequently, it has been performed by Northern Light Theatre, Edmonton; Bastion Theatre, Victoria; Tarragon Theatre, Toronto; the National Art Centre, Ottawa; Centaur Theatre, Montreal; and at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London, England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889221833
Publisher:	Talonbooks, Limited
Publication date:	02/19/1980
Series:	Plays in Print 1980
Edition description:	Seventh Printing
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

John Murrell was born in 1945 in Texas, but has lived for many years in Calgary, Alberta. He has been playwright-in-residence with Alberta Theatre Projects from 1975 to 1976, associate director of the Stratford Festival from 1977 to 1978, and head of the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts Playwrights Colony in 1986. In 1988 he was appointed Head of the Canada Council’s Theatre Section. Murell’s 1980 play Waiting for the Parade has become a classic repertoire piece in theatres in the English-speaking world.

Editorial Reviews

Waiting for the Parade demonstrates the old theatrical law that a play that is local, detailed and specific often has the capacity to reach out beyond its immediate environment. Set in Calgary, Alberta, Waiting for the Parade deals with the way five women coped with the pressures of World War II. Geographically, the conflict may have been remote, but it still impinged on individual lives. Waiting for the Parade is an honest play that captures precisely the texture of ordinary hopes and despairs.”
— The Guardian

“…subdued and definitely reflective. It’s told not from the male point of view, but from the women left behind to raise children, keep factories operational, and bolster young solders as they leave for the killing fields. … an honest appraisal and speaks directly to the heart. … In short, this is a parade of talent worth seeing. ” – St. Albert Gazette

"An honest appraisal and speaks directly to the heart. … In short, this is a parade of talent worth seeing. ” – St. Albert Gazettez

From the Publisher