The Season proceeds with Rock n' Roll - Iron Matron at Northern Light Theatre & Heart at The River Cree Casino!

The past week and a half has been a whirlwind for me. I held auditions and call-backs for the show I am directing at Walterdale Theatre (Peter and the Starcatcher - onstage February 1-20, 2027) but in between auditions and meetings I managed to squeeze in some solid performances!

I think it was a weird twist of fate that the night before I went to North Light Theatre's production of Iron Matron I saw Heart in concert. Led by Ann (76) and Nancy (72) Wilson, the concert showed that age has not diminished their immense talent. It was so fabulous to hear those iconic songs performed by the original artists, and now I can say I've heard Ann Wilson sing live - truly iconic! It was a slightly different rock and roll story onstage in Iron Matron. 

Brianne Jang BB Collective Photography

Iron Matron, written and directed by Trevor Schmidt, is about three mature women with various musical skill levels who decide to start a rock band. It is less about rock n' roll, and more about friendship and identity. Alice (Pamela Schmunk), 60 and recently divorced, has discovered that she doesn't really know who she is any more. After spending a lifetime with her husband being part of a couple, she is now single and struggles to figure out how she fits in the world. She reaches out to Corinne (Linda Grass), her estranged college roommate, in an attempt to reconnect and re-find herself by grasping for one of her pre-marriage relationships. The bond between the women is tenuous because each remembers the relationship differently. After some initial and (ongoing bumps) they decide to start a rock band in an attempt to bring purpose to their connection. They are not very good at the music part of the rock band, and an ad for a drummer brings professional drummer Rita (Patricia Darbasie) into the mix, and her bluntness and clear sight stirs up a lot. 

Brianne Jang BB Collective Photography

I'm a woman of a certain age myself, and I could completely connect to that need to reinvent or re discover who you are after kids and marriage. I imagine the loss of a partner shakes that up even more. I have many friends who discovered a new passion or pursuit as they rounded 60 in an attempt to cultivate a purpose in life. I myself have considered some of those things I used to do when I was in my 20s, wondering if it was too late to pick them up again. The questions about who you are and who you can be when you are past so many life posts pop up aplenty. This show found a unique way to approach that. It's not just Alice who is trying to figure out how she fits in the world as Corinne's life has shifted to care-giver for her husband who suffers from a degenerative illness. She needs 'me-time' and although she and Alice don't mesh very well, it's an escape. Rita is also at a turning point as her former band mates have retired and she still needs something - It's not clear if Alice and Corinne's band is the right fit, but it's certainly a "it will do for now" kind of thing. The show is also about friendships and how they change over time and how each person in the friendship has a different perspective on what it actually was or is. I personally have tried to tend to my friendships over the years, but I know that it's easy to lose connection through distance and times and life changes (kids, marriage, etc...). It's not so easy to pick things up again 30-40 years later. The show makes some important comments about this and the importance of maintaining and respecting friendships.

This was a fun night out and it was great to see Darbasie and Grass in roles unlike anything I've seen them do in the past, a testament to their flexibility as actors, and also nice to see NLT newcomer Schmunk embracing the awkward over-stepping Alice and bringing that to the stage. 

Iron Matron runs to November 7th with tickets at $37.00. Several of their remaining shows are Sold Out, so purchase soon to avoid disappointment. You can purchase tickets here.