During World War II, tensions were high. The fight to maintain hope for humanity was something not only at stake on the battlefield, but also on the homefront. Women stepped up to the plate, and provided strength and unity to countries who desperately needed it. This was not an easy task by any means, but for these individuals it was a necessary addition to the cause.
“Waiting For The Parade,” currently playing at APU’s Black Box Theater, follows the struggles of five Canadian women during the second world war. Written by John Murrell, the story contains five vignettes about different struggles on the homefront.
APU’s theater department has made the choice of showing “Waiting For The Parade” in repertory with another show about World War II, “The Good War.” The stage manager of “Waiting For The Parade” shares that the repertory theater production schedule is a show system that provides a challenge for both shows to manage their time properly.”
“The trickiest part of coordinating [the schedule] was definitely closing up the theater,” said the show’s stage manager, sophomore theater arts and honors humanities major Michelle Maire. “But it came together pretty well.”
“Waiting For The Parade” centers around the city of Calgary. Each story represents a different aspect of the war during the 1940s. Coming from different backgrounds, the female main characters represent differing aspects of the fears and uncertainties of life during the war. The five stories are distinctive because they demonstrate specific and real internal conflicts that took place during this time period.
Two of the characters, Catherine and Margaret, suffer from feeling a sense of disconnect from their family members overseas while Janet, Eve and Marta, the other three characters, stray away from stereotypes surrounding their families, jobs and heritage. All these characters feel lost in the world that they are thrust into, and it is through this tension that the women start to develop friendships and relationships that forever change their perception of life.
For some of the actors involved, working on “Waiting For The Parade” was a great honor. Working with an all-female cast and a mostly female staff created a unique dynamic and a new sense of community and friendship.
The play separates itself from female tropes often found in other theater productions. Instead of being sidelined from the main story, each woman in the story is active in her own way, having her own complexities and characteristics that make her unique as an individual.
“In the play, we all have our characters and names, but we never actually say one another’s names in the show,” said senior acting and honors humanities major Anna Lund. “It’s an interesting choice the playwright made, because women are [seen as] these nameless people that kind of skirted by history and we don’t remember.”
Junior acting major Kaitlyn Cheng hopes that people are able to connect each character to modern-day situations. Despite taking place so long ago, she feels like the themes and emotions of the people are still as real as they were before.
“There’s a lot of research going on about segregation and racism that we had to look up and incorporate into our character,” Cheng said. “I’ve had to look at so much history about how Asians were treated during World War II in Canada, and that was heartbreaking and an eye-opening experience, especially since a lot of that sentiment is still echoed today.”
For cast members like Cheng, the inspiration of the play comes from the inner strength of these women. The hardships they faced were difficult, but they kept moving forward. Through their character and determination, they were able to remain strong in the midst of their conflicts and struggles. “Waiting For The Parade” is not just a story about the homefront during World War II, it is also a story about the human spirit and how people learn that life is truly worth fighting for.
Both “Waiting For The Parade” and “The Good War” continue their runs on Nov. 16. “The Good War” has shows on Nov. 16 and 17, both at 7:30 p.m. “Waiting For The Parade” has shows on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. Tickets are still available online through APU’s ticketing website.