Hear the Crows’ Wings

Hear the Crows’ Wings is a true story of three generations blends comic playfulness, poetic lyricism and haunting narrative: nostalgic years of growing up in Montreal, halcyon summers in the Eastern Townships, misfortune in Ukraine. Co-written by poet Deborah Sheppard and theatre director Vincenzo Sestito, with projections rendered by artist Annabel Weinstein, the one-person play is one hour and ten minutes in duration (a 50 minute version is also available). It was first performed at the Winchester Street Theatre, Toronto, in January 2009, to sold-out houses.

The set is simple, consisting of two chairs: a chrome and vinyl chair evocative of the 1950s and a wooden spindle chair which represents old world Ukraine. Whimsical and evocative historical and family images are cued in as the play unfolds. 1950s hit parade tunes and traditional Jewish songs serve as bridges between segments and create the feeling of time and place.

Moving from a 1950s chrome vinyl chair, the narrator tells the story of growing up in Montreal and the humorous contradictions of going to a Protestant school where , surprisingly, most of the students were Jewish. We meet her father, a handsome, intense man who lives his life with passion, whether it’s his political beliefs, his work life, his taste in music or his garden.  We drive to the cottage and experience the temptation of French fry stands and the shimmering beauty of the Eastern Townships landscape.

The narrator moves across the stage to a simple wooden chair, and introduces us to a small boy in the Ukrainian shtetl of Koretz in the early 1900s.  He is a lively little fellow, testing his parents’ patience, but basking in the warmth of family love.

We discover the tragedy that befell tens of thousands of Jewish children in Eastern Europe. The rescue of the boy and his relocation to Canada brings with it more painful discoveries, and revelations.