Message from the Playwright

I wrote The Melville Boys in 1983 and it has become the play that I am best known for. I knew nothing about playwriting technique when I wrote The Melville Boys. It was only my second play. I didn't know about character development, about underpinning (I'm still not sure I know much about that) about the basic form of a play. I wrote from instinct and honest emotion and nothing else. I have often said that I couldn't write The Melville Boys today because I know too much about how to write a play now, and what I know would get in the way and prevent me from writing something as unrefined as this piece. The Melville Boys will always be the play that I hold closest to my heart because it opened up so many doors for me and allowed me to continue on the exciting and rewarding road to where I am now. And these four characters---Lee, Owen, Mary and Loretta--are like family to me.

~ Norm Foster

Relationships are timeless and Norm Foster's ability to capture that in his work  The Melville Boys, is why this piece stands the test of time. He has captured real people and raw emotions that will make you think about your own family relationships or even see yourself represented on stage. Foster himself calls it "unrefined" but it's that quality that actually leads the audience to find it completely relatable. It's about what we get from the people in our lives and what we need in those relationships. 

Opening August 2, step into our oh-so-Canadian cottage (actually The Rose's Studio Two in the heart of downtown) and be transported. The Melville Boys has it all: comedy and drama, jealousy and ego, laughter and tears. Click here for tickets.