''Calpurnia'' is a 2018 play by Canadian playwright Audrey Dwyer. It is named after Calpurnia, a character in

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman ...

's ''

To Kill A Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

''.

Synopsis

''Calpurnia'' centres around Julie, a twenty-something Black woman living with her father, an Afro-Caribbean judge, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. She is a screenwriter attempting to write a film about Calpurnia, the Finches' maid in ''

''. Julie's brother, Mark, is an up-and-coming lawyer struggling to live up to his father's expectations. Julie's research on racial prejudice spark debates between her and her brother as Mark feels Julie is "not Black enough". Julie asks the family's

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

housekeeper, Precy, about her life to further her research while Precy cooks dinner for Lawrence and his friend James. Mark's white girlfriend, Christine, also attends the dinner and sparks discussions of

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the Social privilege, societal privilege that benefits white people over Person of color, non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or ...

and

respectability politics Respectability politics, or the politics of respectability, is a political strategy wherein members of a marginalized community will consciously abandon or punish controversial aspects of their cultural-political identity as a method of assimi ...

Productions

''Calpurnia'' premiered in 2018 at

Buddies in Bad Times Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical ex ...

in Toronto. The premiere was directed by Dwyer and co-produced by

Nightwood Theatre Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women's theatre and is based in Toronto. It was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe, and Maureen White and was originally a collective. Though it was not the founders' o ...

and Sulong Theatre. The premiere starred Meghan Swaby as Julie,

Carolyn Fe Carolyn Fe (born August 1, 1961) is a Filipino actress based in Montreal. She has released three full-length albums and an EP with the Carolyn Fe Blues Collective. Fe is also the recipient of 2018 Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards for Best Supportin ...

as Precy, Matthew Brown as Mark, Andrew Moodie as Lawrence, Don Allison as James, and Natasha Greenblatt as Christine. Anna Treusch designed the set which stadium-style seating on either side of the stage. In March 2022, ''Calpurnia'' was performed at the

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (Royal MTC) is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country. It was founded in 1958 by Jo ...

. The 2022 production was directed by Sarah Garton Stanley and starred Emerjade Simms as Julie. The play featured Kwaku Adu-Poku as Mark, Ellie Ellwand as Christine, Rochelle Kives as Precy, Arne MacPherson as James, and Ray Strachan as Lawrence.

Analysis

''Calpurnia'' examines what it means to be Black in Canada and focusses on how its characters shift their identities to suit their environments. The character of Lawrence embodies the traditional image of an immigrant parent trying to make the best life for their children while also trying to educate them about their culture. However, Laurence does not speak

Patois ''Patois'' (, same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or sl ...

to his children, indicating his attempt to make his children "more Canadian". Julie and Mark engage in several conversations about the usefulness and worth of updating canonical texts as well as who has a right to tell what stories. ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' is Mark's favourite book and he does not feel as though it needs any retelling. He also feels that Julie, a rich woman living in Toronto with no Black friends, does not know any more about being African-American in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in the 1930s than Harper Lee did. Julie, on the other hand, faults Atticus Finch for his "

slut-shaming Slut-shaming is the practice of criticizing people, especially women and girls, who violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality. It may also be used in reference to gay men, who may face disapproval for ...

" and refusing to call out the prejudice of white jury members. The character of Precy acts as a model for Lee's Calpurnia, in that she serves Lawrence and his children the same way Calpurnia serves the Finch family. Dwyer was interested in using Precy to examine how different racial minorities interact with each other as well as to examine the concept of

allyship ''Allyship'' is an English-language neologism used in contemporary social justice activism to describe efforts by groups of people to advance the interests of marginalized groups both in society at large and in particular social contexts, for examp ...

Development

Dwyer began writing ''Calpurnia'' in 2012 after playing a maid in a show. She developed the play with Obsidian Theatre as part of their playwriting unit. During the time between the play's 2018 premiere and this staging, Dwyer made several changes to the script and the play underwent dramaturgy from Sarah Garton Stanley. Of the 2018 and 2022 productions, Dwyer said "this definitely is not the same play."

References

{{reflist Canadian comedy plays 2018 plays Plays about race and ethnicity Plays based on novels Plays set in Canada