Two Plays
Two Plays (2004) is the first published volume of Robert Chafe's work, despite his having written and co-authored a number of plays. This collection is an attempt to rectify the situation, as stated by Denyse Lynde in the extended introduction, which provides information on the plays' histories as well as on Chafe himself. Though Chafe is not well-known outside of Newfoundland and Labrador, the publication of this collection increased his profile, as it was nominated for the 2004 Governor-General's Award, and one of the plays in Two Plays, "Tempting Providence," has been performed around the Commonwealth. "Tempting Providence" is a biographical play about a nurse celebrated for her work in outport Newfoundland, while "Butler's Marsh" is a psychological play that investigates a supernatural marsh on Bell Island, also the site of a play co-authored by Chafe called Place of First Light.
"Butler's Marsh" is a contemporary play that questions rationality. Three decades ago, Nora's mother mysteriously disappeared into the woods surrounding Butler's Marsh, then emerged, bleeding and disoriented. Because no one knew what happened and she could not tell, the event became part of the lore of local superstition, steeped in tales of little people and fairies. While Nora's mother came from Newfoundland, Nora has lived all her life in Cambridge, Ontario, and has returned to Newfoundland to uncover the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance. This journey comes at a pivotal time in Nora's life, as she is unsettled by an unexpected pregnancy as well as a troubled relationship with her partner Tim, who accompanies her to Bell Island.
Nora and Tim are on the brink of separation. They communicate in clipped sentences that give their conversations a harsh edge, as they debate the wisdom of Nora's decision to come to Bell Island. Though their situation entails little movement or action, the tensions that arise from their exchanges prevent the play from being static. While Tim argues they should leave the woods because it is dark and cold, Nora is determined to spend the night in the marsh to comprehend the enigma of what happened to her mother. Solving this conundrum is important to Nora not least because her problems replicate those of her mother. However, the play ends on an ambiguous note, with Chafe leaning neither to the side of rationality nor toward the paranormal.
"Butler's Marsh" was workshopped at Playwright's Atlantic Resource Centre's Moveable Feast at Victoria by the Sea, Prince Edward Island, as well as in Calgary at Lunchbox Theatre's Stage One Play Development Program. The play premiered September 2001 at the Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre in St. John's.
Commissioned by Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador, "Tempting Providence" is a biographical play about Nurse Myra Grimsley Bennett, known as the Florence Nightingale of Newfoundland. While the Wilfred Grenfell Mission became famous for its determination to bring modern medicine to Newfoundland, the story of Myra Bennett has not been as commemorated in literature, even though she boasts a record of having pulled 5,000 teeth from mouths and 700 children from wombs. In Chafe's play, we see the source of her fame, as well as the event that provides a turning point in her life: the amputation and subsequent reattachment of her brother-in-law's foot at a logging camp.
The presentational style of the play calls for a few simple props, including a table, chairs, and a white tablecloth that also serves as a baby when wrapped up. Originally, the props were meant to be portable so the play could be staged in a variety of locations, including nursing homes across Newfoundland and Labrador. Even the cast is spare, with a man and woman actor each taking on the role of a variety of characters aged fourteen to eighty.
Nurse Myra Grimsley arrives in Newfoundland with a mission to provide medical care to the small town of Daniel's Harbour as well as surrounding outports. Though the English native learned her trade in London during World War I, bicycling to patients during blackouts and raids, she is nonplussed by the forbidding coast of Newfoundland, isolated and inhabited by people whose mythology collides with her scientific practicality. Though she is no proverbial English rose because of her pluck and outspoken nature, her proper upbringing and King's English still collide with the easy-going pragmatism and rural dialect of the Newfoundlanders, though their outport accents are not as exaggerated as they sometimes can be. Myra settles in Daniel's Harbour as an outsider and attempts to win the respect of the Newfoundlanders. She discovers she cannot do it with her haughty knowledge alone, but by attempting traditional pursuits such as baking her own bread, growing her own potatoes—or engaging in a romance with a local man.
Part of Myra's acculturation involves the pragmatic relationship she pursues with Angus Bennett, a retired merchant mariner who bridges the provincial Daniel's Harbour with the larger world, reflected in his speech, which lacks a strong local flavour. There is an element of romantic comedy to their relationship, as Myra's proper deportment forces her to hide her desire for Angus, even though the townspeople see that the two people are infatuated with each other almost from the outset. "Our marriage, our courtship is one of practicality. Plain and simple. Angus is without wife. I am without husband. I am in need of assistance in travel, the practicalities of getting to the patient."
One factor unifying the two plays is that their central characters are women and they deal with what can be seen as women's issues. Nora and her mother face a controversy shrouded in myth and silence. Myra becomes a professional married woman at a time when women are expected to be satisfied with homemaking; instead, she subverts the norm by traveling to Newfoundland for an adventure, then refusing to give up her work when she starts a family. More importantly, these works illustrate the conflict between local lore and modern science, with both sides receiving validation throughout the plays. The local townspeople in "Butler's Marsh" are not to be trusted, at least according to pragmatic Tim, for he does not believe their tales of fairies; however, Nora's perceptions are not to be trusted either. In "Tempting Providence" those who cart around fish bones for toothaches seem blissfully ignorant of scientific approaches to dental care until Myra comes along with modern techniques and tools. However, Myra saves the community from a plague of breech births by theorizing that if pregnant women bend at the knees instead of at the hips while gardening in their ninth month, their babies will not turn.
While Chafe's popularity has mostly been confined to Newfoundland and Labrador, these plays have stretched beyond the province's coasts, chiefly "Tempting Providence" which continues to be produced.