| The
play premiered in London, Ontario in March 1993, then moved to the
NAC in April of the same year. It was presented at Stratford in
1995, and has had numerous productions both in Canada and the US.
There are three main themes to the play:
A young man has been found murdered in a Moscow
hotel room and the Canadian ambassador, Harry Raymond, has been
recalled to Ottawa by his close friend, Michael Riordan, the
Minister of External Affairs. The play is set in 1972 (with
flashbacks to the 1940’s and 50’s) and the action takes place in and
around a safe house in Rockcliffe.
Harry is a respected diplomat nearing the end of
his career. If he gets another posting, it will probably be his
last. Did he commit the murder? Was he being blackmailed? Is he a
Communist? Is he a homosexual? Is he the victim of a KGB or CIA
plot?
Two RCMP officers, Superintendent Jackman and
Corporal Mahavolitch are investigating the case and reporting to
Michael. Jackman is the senior of the two: experienced, astute, and
somewhat skeptical of the paranoia about Communists and gays in
External Affairs (remember this is in 1972). Mahavolitch is younger,
athletic, very gung-ho, and goes by the book. He does not mind
posing as a gay prostitute to entrap Harry.
The second theme is the relationship between
Harry and Michael. Michael is poised to become the next Prime
Minister but the potential scandal surrounding Harry may spoil his
chances. He must choose between his loyalty to his friend and
political ambitions.
Juliet, Michael’s wife is an even closer friend of
Harry’s family and is torn between her loyalty and friendship to
them, her loyalty to her husband and her own social ambitions. She
has been the quintessential diplomatic corps spouse but now is not
sure the political rewards outweigh abandoning her friends.
The third theme is the relationship between Harry,
his wife Miriam, and their daughter Diana. Until recently they
seemed to be a normal, happy family, except that Miriam has started
showing signs of Alzheimer’s. However it turns out that Harry has
been a closet homosexual, but his sexual needs in no way diminish
his love for his wife.
Diana Marsden, their daughter, is a successful
lawyer, married and divorced at least twice, suggesting that she
must be, at least, in her mid thirties. (Chronological references in
the play place her in her mid twenties, but we have chosen to ignore
this anachronism and add a decade). She has been unaware of her
father’s sexual deviance and now questions her own parentage. She
finds it very difficult to come to terms with the situations
especially in light of their mother’s acceptance.
Miriam discovered his secret long a go and,
unknown to him, in what may have been an act of pure, unselfish
love, has procured gay prostitutes for him over the years. She is
still fiercely protective of Harry even now, as she slips in and out
of the effects of Alzheimer’s. The unusual, but tender love story
between Harry and Miriam is perhaps the main theme of the play. |
