“Solid cast. A resonating intergenerational conflict.”

Here’s a fun parallel – an east coast theatre company travels to Toronto with a play about an east coast family that moves to Toronto to begin a new life.

Matchstick Theatre from Halifax has moved into Toronto’s Coal Mine Theatre with a biting production of the David French classic ‘Leaving Home.’ Firmly directed by Jake Planinc, the play is French’s autobiographical story of the Mercer family, uprooted from Newfoundland and making a new life in Toronto.

It is the tale of one man’s difficulty with the loss of a traditional patriarchal society, his conflicted wife and their sons on the brink of independence. ‘Leaving Home’ was an immediate hit in the early seventies and continues to be revived over the years. It is the first in a parade of successful plays based on the same Mercer family.

A solid cast illuminates the story of the family preparing dinner before the wedding of their younger son, Bill and his pregnant fiancé Kathy. Tensions build as we learn that the young couple are unsure of the upcoming nuptials. Father Jacob struggles to hold on to his control of the family.

Kathy’s family is introduced to the scene as her mother Minnie and her new beau have been invited to the dinner. To amplify the tension – one family is Catholic and the other is Protestant – a tension more severe in the 1950’s. On top of that, Minnie rings out about the past relationship she had with Jacob with Mrs. Mercer quietly fuming.

Almost all the major story lines are revealed in the first act: Kathy announces she has just had a miscarriage, Ben announces he is moving out along with his brother, the young couple reconsider wedding plans and Jacob is spinning with anger.

The solid cast is anchored by Andrew Musselman as Jacob – his talent is displayed in the wide range of emotions – sometimes a carefree drunk and reasonable family man but quick to anger (too often violent). His face often darkens as he broods over his diminishing patriarchal control – the loss of old family ways. At one point he displays genuine contrition, but it doesn’t last as his brutality bubbles again to the surface.
Shelley Thompson’s fine performance as Mary Mercer displays her many functions in the family – consoler, mediator, referee. Her husband’s behaviour is not new to her, but it finally wears her down.

The two brothers are played with control – more so the younger Bill (Sam Vigneault). He is more reserved as he quietly questions his situation and barely makes any contact with his soon to be wife. Lou Campbell as Ben perfectly displays a growing anger – respectful to a point, trying to reserve any rash behaviour as a consequence of his father’s irrationality.

Abby Weisbrot as Kathy is at first furtive – eyes darting at all incoming danger. Upon announcing her miscarriage, she grows steely and is clearly the stronger decision maker in the relationship.

Sharleen Kalayil as Minnie, the exuberant mother of Kathy, has just the right amount of vampishness to make her the ‘enemy’. But underneath her gloss, vulnerability is clear. Moments of comic relief come from Minnie’s mute boyfriend who looks like a gaping fish on the floor of a rowboat as he observes the drama. His signature moment is a noisy swallow of booze to punctuate the end of Act One.

Act Two accelerates the decent on all sides. The marriage itself is in question, Ben’s decision to leave home is cemented, and Jacob’s anger moves from irrationality to bloodlust. The play ends in pieces.

Produced as theatre in the round, the audience is peering into the lives of this family – as if we were all at a fish fry with them. The advantage is with the intimacy between audience and actor. Unfortunately, some of the lengthier speeches were lost to parts of the audience – some more fluid blocking might solve this.

This intergenerational conflict will resonate for many – after more than fifty years, Matchstick Theatre’s production reminds us that French’s work is timeless.

‘Leaving Home’ by David French
Performers: Shelley Thompson, Lou Campbell, Sam Vigneault, Andrew Musselman, Abby Weisbrot, Sharleen Kayayil, Sebastien Labelle

CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Jake Planinc
Stage Manager: Chelsea Dickie
Set Design: Wesley Babcock
Lighting Design: Alison Crosby
Costume Design: Kaelen MacDonald
Sound Design: Jordan Palmer
Accent Coach: Sherry Smith
Dance Coach: Jade Douris-O’Hara

PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer/Front of House: Alex Mills
Production Management by WXW (whatbywhen)
Director of Production: Wesley Babcock
Technical Director: Wesley Babcock
Production Manager: Erik Richards
House Tech: Sebastian Cattrysse

Performance runs through: June 22, 2025 at Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Avenue

Tickets: matchsticktheatre.ca or https://matchsticktheatre.simpletix.ca/