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Watch This Play about How a Fox Helped a Family Grieve

In ‘This Is How We Got Here,’ a mystical creature leads a family struck by trauma to again interact with humour and love.

Firehall Arts Centre 2 Apr 2024The Tyee

A painting of a red fox on a white background.
'Once I started to read it, I knew it was a play for Firehall audiences,' says Firehall artistic producer Donna Spencer. 'I appreciated how [the playwright] had shaped this powerful story, blending humour with grief, friendship with raw pain, and the power of the natural world.' Illustration by Travis Murphy.

How do you get over a terrible loss? Canadian playwright Keith Barker’s acclaimed play explores resilience in a narrative filled with loss, love and a mystical fox.

Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, This Is How We Got Here follows how an otherwise close-knit family overcomes the lingering trauma of an unexpected loss.

Audiences will witness a mother, father, aunt and uncle learning how to move forward after their shared grief as they relearn how to interact with one another through humour, forgiveness and love.

The play takes the stage at the Firehall Arts Centre from April 13 to 28:

It has been a year since Paul and Lucille’s son Craig died by suicide, and their once-solid family bonds are starting to break down. While the now-separated couple tries to honour their son, Lucille’s sister Liset and her husband Jim refuse to discuss their nephew. The ties that keep the four together as sisters, best friends and spouses are strained by grief and guilt... until a visit from a fox changes everything.

“When my eye caught the cover of this newly published play in 2017, I felt compelled to read it as I had recently had a ‘fox’ experience, different from this but also very meaningful,” says Firehall artistic producer Donna Spencer.

“Once I started to read it, I knew it was a play for Firehall audiences, and I appreciated how Keith had shaped this powerful story, blending humour with grief, friendship with raw pain, and the power of the natural world.”

Barker is a playwright, actor, director and member of the Métis Nation of Ontario. He was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for English Drama for This Is How We Got Here.

'This Is How We Got Here’ is on stage at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver from April 13 to 28. The play addresses sensitive and potentially triggering themes related to suicide, and occasional strong language. It may not be suitable for children under 13 or viewers sensitive to such content.

To learn more about the performance, visit Firehall Arts Centre’s website. [Tyee]

Read more: Media

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