Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
This is For You, Anna
Feminist collective creation in one long act subtitled "A Spectacle of Revenge" created by The Anna Project (Suzanne Odette Khuri, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Banuta Rubess, Maureen White), premiered at Nightwood Theatre, 1985.
As in Quebec (Les fées ont soif and La nef des sorcières), English Canada had key feminist theatrical works, many born at Nightwood Theatre. This is For You, Anna presents several important issues in a non-linear style: the nature of revenge and how the wronged deal with their trauma (men kill, women kill themselves); rape; domestic violence; child abuse; motherhood. It does so in prosaic and theatrical forms which sometimes meld nicely and sometimes seem beside the point. There are instances in the work when it seems to be tackling all the ills of the universe without serving any one particularly well.
The play was inspired by a true event - Marianne Bachmeier shot the murderer of her seven-year-old daughter, Anna, in the courtroom as he tried to blame Anna for flirting with him , but it is primarily a performer's and director's piece, as the text itself has not aged well.
Commentary by Gaetan Charlebois
Last updated 2020-11-07
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