Mind the Light is a new musical created by Gabrielle Papillon, with book, music, and lyrics by Gabrielle Papillon. It is currently in development.
“It’s the music that makes this show so exciting. It is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard for a musical.”
Gabrielle Papillon. Photo by Lindsay Duncan
From Gabrielle
My great-grandmother Azélie was born on a stormy night, on a small, isolated island, in a lighthouse tended by her parents which is now a Heritage Canada site. Her father perished in the storm the night she was born, trying to get to the mainland to fetch a midwife. Soon after, Azelie’s mother gave up the light, and they left the island.
In 2011, days after my grandfather Charles (Azélie’s son) passed away, my song Go Into the Night poured out of me in one shot, like a parting gift. I knew when I finished the song that it was the story of that fateful night. Soon after, the idea for Mind the Light began brewing: a two act original Queer musical about a family of Lightkeepers, set in the 1890s. Weaving in my family history and my own queer identity, I’ve reimagined a story where they stay and fight to keep the light.
Synopsis
Raised by her mother and her uncle, and sharing her family’s dedication to the lighthouse on Parakeet Island, Azélie Forgues struggles with family dynamics, love, grief, and isolation. Despite gaining local and then national fame from a young age for her daring water rescues, she must fight to keep her independence and her home through physically demanding and dangerous work, tremendous loss, and a love that she must keep secret. Mind the Light is a feminist story about sacrifice & bravery, Queer love, chosen family, and the courage it takes to be yourself.
Creative Team:
Director: Annie Valentina
Musical Director: Melissa MacKenzie
Dramaturge: Avery-Jean Brennan
2023 Workshop and Workshop Concert Reading
Presented by Eastern Front Theatre Stage’s Festival, with support from The Canada Council for the Arts, Eastern Front Theatre, and Neptune Theatre.
