"Hooked" the play
Soon, you can see seven dead women come to life at Mad Maple Country Inn.
The parade of writers, artists, socialites and at least one murderer inhabit the play “Hooked” by Carolyn Smart. On Sunday, October 6 at 2 pm, two-time Gemini Award-winning actor Nicky Guadagni will resurrect them.
“Hooked,” is about seven obsessed women. Judging from the cast of characters (Unity Mitford, Elizabeth Smart, Zelda Fitzgerald, Dora Carrington, Carson McCullers, Myra Hindley and Jane Bowles), it is not hard to see why.
Written as a traditional play, Guadagni created “Hooked in House,” an intimate performance in a private home that includes food, drink and discussion.
In Creemore, Guadagni will perform each woman’s monologue, in a different costume, in a different room of Mad Maple Country Inn, as the audience moves through the house with her.
Each character lends herself to particular rooms in a house, Guadagni explains. Before each performance, Guadagni chooses which room goes best with the character she will be portraying. Canadian author Elizabeth Smart had four children, so she’s usually in the kitchen or garden, she said. You’ll usually find an ill Carson McCullers lying down in the master bedroom, and 1960s murderer Myra Hindley often gets the “grottiest” part of the house, such as the garage or an unfinished basement.
From such a colourful collection of women (some darker than others), Guadagni says she feels most comfortable in the skin of artist Dora Carrington, who committed suicide after falling in love with Lytton Strachey, a member of the Bloomsbury Group.
“Many women of my generation met and fell in love with at least one homosexual,” she explained. “The guy who was awesome to be with, wants nothing from you and who doesn’t want to change you.”
Guadagni feels that being in the room with the characters helps the audience members develop an “affinity” for them. “They often leave the performance intending to order the characters’ books or find out more about them.”
Tickets,which include food and drink for the afternoon, are $125. Only 15 will be sold in advance. Contact Simon Heath at 705-466-6180 or simon@simonheath.ca.
