After a few months of rehearsals and preparations, the spring’s theatre production “The Color Of Our Lives” is coming up soon.
The show itself – written, playwright and directed by Celine Perron, a professor of theatre and dance at Keene State – is inspired by her own story of discovering the roots of her family after she developed an interest in genealogy rooted in the death of her father.
“When my father passed away, my family and I huddled up into a black car and drove up to the top of Mount Royal in Montreal. This is the place where the rich families spend eternity,” Perron stated. “We arrived at the cemetery next to a large marble monument with the name of my great-grandfather and grandfather carved into its gleaming face. Having grown up extremely poor with five other siblings, I realized that I knew nothing about my own origin.”
From there, she discovered Catherine, her second great-grandmother, born in Ireland, and learned her story.
“She married Patrick McCarthy in 1841 in Cork, Ireland. That same year she gave birth to a daughter in Montreal. Her husband was the shipkeeper of a merchant ship and died at sea before joining her in Canada,” Perron stated. “I was deeply moved thinking of what life would have been like for her, alone, pregnant and widowed in a foreign world.”
“For me, The Color Of Our Lives is a beautiful story,” Perron later stated. “I invite the audience to travel with us and be transported into the world we have created. Nothing flashy, just a beautiful, simple story.”
Her imagination took that thought and put that story on the page– both Catherine’s in 1840 and the life of her second great-granddaughter living in Montreal in 1970.
The difference between the two segments is that they are told in their own form. The second great-granddaughter’s story is told by actors, while Catherine’s is played by rod puppets. The two realities inspired Perron to differentiate the two worlds, along with her 30-year-long passion for puppetry and her place in an international fellowship of master puppeteers.
“Performing with puppet is a highly specialized form of acting. It requires the ability to connect with the audience through an inanimate object,” Perron stated. “We did an intensive training workshop with the students prior to the rehearsal process. We explored movement, breathing and puppet manipulation.”
Perron also credited the creative team for the creation of the show, stating that “each member of the company has an impact to its final version.”
The show will be running March 4-7, each day having its own showing at 7:30 p.m. with an additional matinee showing at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 7.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
