Homeground by Caterina Edwards
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This relatively short play was meant to address various issues with regards to immigrants in Canada; however, it fails to connect with the reader/audience, since the dialogue is inconsistent. The entire play is in English with directions given that these character are Italian and are actually speaking in Italian – in that sense a built in translator for the English speaking audience – but in order to convey a sense of “foreignness” the written English is heavily infused with a written accent, bad grammar, making this reading experience very difficult and unpleasant.
The conflicts are mediocre at best, nothing is resolved and issue upon issue is piled onto the audience’s attention.
At the end, I felt I just wasted my time reading a play that had no real impact at all. I understand the need for authors to address issues of immigrants’ experiences, but there are much better plays and stories available than this one. I would not recommend this play.
