with Conrad Boyce
Uxbridge actor Jennifer Carroll returns next week to the Historic Leaskdale Church for her annual run as Lucy Maud Montgomery in the solo play Maud of Leaskdale, about the formative years 1911-1926 she lived in the village. Anyone interested in Uxbridge heritage should see this powerful performance. To reserve tickets to the Aug. 24, 26 and 27 shows, visit lucymaudmontgomery.ca
Jennifer, our readers are so used to seeing you around town, they might be surprised to learn that you no longer live in Uxbridge. Where have you gone, what precipitated the move, and how are you settling in?
That’s true – my family moved to North Bay last summer. We purchased our first home and have enjoyed the year settling into our new home and community. I love North Bay – I always say it’s like Uxbridge, just a little bigger and with a few lakes thrown in.
The reason we moved here was that I have been running a touring theatre company called Proscenium Club out of North Bay for the past six years, and eventually the commute started to get to be a bit much, so with the growth and success of the company, we finally decided to make the move.
I know your husband, Davi Aquino, is a musician, and also works in the movie business as a Foley artist. What does that involve? Is it more complicated to do in a remote location?
Yes, Davi is a Foley artist and editor and his career has been built on the outskirts of Uxbridge at Footsteps Studios. Davi has made good connections through the surprisingly small community of post-production sound and it has been a reasonably smooth transition to a combination of remote work, and traveling into studio when necessary.
As for music, Davi still performs down south with Julien Kelland, and has also recently started to perform here in North Bay, so I’m beyond thrilled for my new town to see how amazing he is.
Tell us about your two growing children. Are they going to be performers like you and Davi? Is your life as an actor and theatre producer flexible enough for you to be a big part of their lives day to day?
Ah, my favourite subject…Oliver (7) and Agnes (4) are pretty much the best humans in the world, yet so, so different. I think Agnes definitely has that magical performer’s sparkle in her. She loves to sing and dance and can tell a heck of an entertaining story to anyone who will listen. Oliver has the deepest imagination, is full of sensitivity and has a deep love for reading that takes him to any world imaginable. But he’s private. He doesn’t love to get up and perform. In fact, for his Christmas concert at school last year, he just didn’t understand “why it was any stranger’s business” what song he learned and what choreography he had been practicing. It made me laugh. It fills me with so much joy that they are each so utterly themselves, and I’ll be thrilled to watch them follow whichever passions move their souls. Being a self-employed artist has many pros and cons, but being able to tailor my life around Oliver and Agnes is absolutely top of the list.
People often think theatre in Ontario all happens in Toronto and Stratford. How important is it to the life of your new home, and how have you gotten yourself involved in it?
Local theatre is an imprint of the life around it. It is responsive and reactive, and speaks to the heart and soul of the people who live everyday lives in everyday places. Theatre in North Bay is surprisingly
vibrant and alive. A trip to a metropolis that has volumes of theatre on offer isn’t feasible or available to everyone, so there is a robust community of high-quality artists that can bring the reflection of the human condition right to our door. There is a brilliant fringe festival in North Bay, an acting college, our touring company, which travels between Cobalt and Toronto up and down the northern corridor, as well as, many high quality community theatre companies. It is an inspiring place to be.
This summer will be your 12th as the star of the one-woman show Maud of Leaskdale, playing at the historic church in the Uxbridge village where Lucy Maud Montgomery’s husband Ewan MacDonald was the pastor. How has your own growth as a person changed your performance as Montgomery, and your understanding of what she went through during her 15 years here?
I was told at the tender age of 24 that this could be a role I played for decades. I may have quietly rolled my eyes, being sure that nothing could hold my attention for that long. Surely, a single character and a single show couldn’t provide that many years of artistic challenge, and surely not capture an audience for that long. I have yet to scrape the bottom of the well that is Maud. I have actually had the unbelievable gift of walking through my life hand in hand with her. Since starting this show, like Maud I have married, travelled, been pregnant, had children, reared them while trying to balance and accomplish my artistic ambitions…weathered a global pandemic…things I never imagined would help me understand her perspective, her joy, her struggles and triumphs. I am a better human and artist for knowing her.
What do you enjoy about playing Maud in that play? If you look back near the ending of your acting life, how important do you think that role will have been in shaping your career?
I love how she was just, a real person trying to do her best with the mixed hand she was dealt. She reached some unbelievable highs, but also handled some unimaginable blows. She was just…human. Granted, a human who had some acute, stunningly beautiful and funny insights, but a human nonetheless. A woman, a wife, mother, friend, artist, a whole person. Perfectly imperfect. I think that’s what I find so compelling about her. Yes, her accomplishments, but more so her imperfections. Her daily foibles. Her humanity.
Next year will be a special one to me – I will finally be the age Maud was when she arrived in Leaskdale. I have performed this play, hundreds of times, in 10 cities across two provinces. I think, in the years to come, I will be grateful that I could meet her, time and again, with the same suitcase in hand, and she will have taught me something new about myself each time. As an actor, that type of deep commitment, the unrivaled intimacy,the sheer length and breadth of time spent together as actor and character, has taught me stamina, given me a sense of never ending play and discovery, and allowed me to share and connect with people I never imagined I would. To hear how Maud has touched the lives – directly or indirectly – of so many people, and to hear the joy in learning about who she was, in the deepest, darkest, most intimate moments, is a gift and a debt I shall never be able repay to the beautiful people who created this piece and who continue to support it.
How did growing up in Uxbridge influence your perspective as an artist?
I grew up with the ability to try anything, to be anything and to safely nurture a sense of dreaming without being knocked down or discouraged. It has never occurred to me that I couldn’t fulfill my greatest dreams, because I lived in a town where there was always space to do so – to dream. Maud dreamed here, and so did I.
Can you share any exciting projects you have in the offing?
I am currently keeping busy with touring this show and developing a multi-year road trip with Proscenium Club’s current play Happy Jack’s Motel.