String of Pearls

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Tuesday, August 15th, 2023
Aug 11th @3:45pm Aug 12th @8:30pm Aug 15th @5:45 Aug 16 @ 8:30 Aug 18 @5:45 Aug 20 @3:00

String of Pearls, winner of the 2022 Vancouver Ovation award for Outstanding New Musical, dramatizes the final chapter in a mother/daughter relationship that grows increasingly complicated as they both age. Audiences laugh and cry at the poignant and irreverently funny script and leave the theatre humming the songs.
Pearl and Iris are locked in a lifelong mother-daughter power struggle. At 89, Pearl clings to the shreds of her independence in irrational, potentially self-destructive ways. Iris, recently retired at 65 and often as irrational as Pearl, tries to protect her mother from the deterioration of old age. They care deeply for each other, although they have trouble showing it, and fear the ultimate, inevitable separation.
Mutual feelings of helplessness and frustration fuel their interaction. Pearl denies her diminishing ability to care for herself, although she is physically vulnerable, desperately lonely, and overwhelmed by day-to-day activities. Iris is terrified of losing Pearl but knows the moment is coming soon. At the same time, she would like to free herself from caring for Pearl at the current exhausting and unsatisfying – for both women – level. Pearl hints that she wants more time with Iris but seems to deliberately aggravate her when they are together. Iris tries to manage Pearl’s daily routine but recoils from her deeper emotional need. Both mother and daughter must learn to let go and accept their differences – and their similarities – if they are to connect meaningfully before it is too late.
The humour amid the pathos in this musical two-hander resonates with Baby Boomer audiences who all face the reality of caring for aging parents and imminently losing them – if they are not currently, then they have recently been or will shortly be in Iris’s position. Audiences of Pearl’s age group also appreciate the mother-daughter struggle.
Audiences reach for the Kleenex as they laugh guiltily over Golden Age-style songs: “Like a Fly in Amber” puts their angst under a microscope; “Ain’t It Great to Be Senile” might be the song audiences leave the theatre humming; “A Little of Your Time” could prompt every daughter in the theatre to call her mother when she gets home.
The show opens with the ongoing battle between Pearl and Iris over Pearl’s self-care. Iris is determined to save her mother from herself, while Pearl insists that she knows better than the doctors. Pills, Pills, Pills, a rap-style song more Meredith Willson than Drake, is a battle of wills, wills, wills. Nobody wins this round, and when Pearl reveals her lonely heart in A Little of Your Time, Iris chastises herself for lacking empathy for her mother.
Resolving to spend more time with Pearl, Iris yearns at the same time for some freedom from the responsibilities of caregiving. Miscommunication ensues about everything from bowel health to the Amazon to Iris’s perfect-in-his-mother’s-eyes brother. Ain’t It Great to Be Senile? spins the advantages of encroaching dementia.
Iris reflects sentimentally on her mother’s life “before the diamond ring” in Who Was the Girl? Pearl reminisces about her dead husband in How Did You Happen to Happen to Me? Ode to Shakespeare comically highlights another difference between mother and daughter. On the Wings of an Eagle describes Pearl’s contentment with her life and acceptance of the fact that it is drawing to a close.
Iris’s worst nightmare materializes when she arrives at her mother’s house to discover that Pearl has fallen and been unable to call for help. The fall leaves Pearl confused and frightened, but she orders Iris to go on her planned cruise rather than stay home to look after Pearl. Iris reluctantly agrees, leaving Pearl to look after herself. “Like a Fly in Amber” dramatizes the inability of the two women to communicate their feelings for each other and their fears for the future.
The scene shifts to Pearl’s funeral, with Iris giving the eulogy. Iris speaks from the heart about her mother’s life and sings “A Better Ending”. The show ends with the little song Pearl sang to Iris as a child, “Love You Forever”.
“This is a rich and thought-provoking piece that will leave a different mark on everyone. I recommend it for its warmth, for its heart, and for some stand-out musical numbers.” John Hinton, Fringe Review
"String of Pearls" is presented as part of the 2023 Nanaimo Fringe Festival.