Maud Lewis World Without Shadows

MAUD LEWIS "World Without Shadows" is the original stage play written about the famous Nova Scotia, Canada folk artist. It was first broadcast as a radio play via CBC Radio to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and then via a national Canadian CBC broadcast, in 1996. Subsequent productions have included King's Theatre of Annapolis Royal, Ship's Company Theatre of Parrsboro, Festival Antigonish, Neptune Theatre of Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Blythe Festival of Blythe, Ontario. Scenes from the play were included in the National Film Board of Canada feature documentary film "The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis", as written by Lance Woolaver, and featured actors from the King's Theatre of Annapolis Royal production. The characters include Maud's husband of record, Everett Lewis, and Maud's good friends and neighbours of Digby County. All characters are taken from life. The Canadian actor, Niki Lipman, would describe the role of "Maud" as "the role of a lifetime." "World Without Shadows" is dedicated to Thornton Wilder, with whom the playwright visited in Connecticut in 1968. "World Without Shadows borrows its structure from "Our Town": it takes place in our time signatures, the perfect and imperfect past. Like "Our Town", "Shadows" is as much a play about a village as it is a play about lives. Characters are presented as both ghosts and living beings. As the characters come and go, Maud's bright paintings spark revelations of their lives.

Lance Woolaver was born in Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1948. He lives in Halifax with his wife, the former Martha Spencer of Saskatoon. They have been married for 48 years. Their daughter Shirley is a nurse in Alberta and their son Lance the Younger is a wildlife biologist in Madagascar. Lance the Elder has written a dozen books, plays and films including, with Bob Brooks, the book and film "The Illuminated Life of Maud Lewis." His original play "Maud Lewis World Without Shadows" has enjoyed many community and professional productions, including a CBC Radio national broadcast, a Neptune Theatre award-winning production and a Blythe Festival production. His play "The Poor Farm" was the first in Nova Scotia to engage actors of Mi'kMaq, White, Black and Acadian heritage. His song cycle "The Noel Cantata" was recently produced in Norway. His novel and script "The Outlaw League" was recently produced in Montreal as the feature film "La Gang des Hors la Loi" and has appeared at festivals around the world. "La Gang" won the Vancouver Reel 2 Real Film festival in 2015.