AFTER A PAST YEAR of unbidden endings, Sheila McCarthy is starting 2012 with a new comedy and a new challenge.
The Canadian stage, film and TV actor stars in the premiere of Norm Foster’s Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out, opening Friday at Neptune Theatre.
It’s her first time back on stage in eight years. "I thought if I don’t do it soon, I never will," says McCarthy, who wrapped up six years of shooting Little Mosque on the Prairie this summer.
Neptune’s artistic director George Pothitos asked her to come to Neptune Theatre about this time last year. McCarthy’s husband, Stratford Festival star Peter Donaldson, died at 57 on Jan. 8, 2011, after a two-year battle with lung cancer. McCarthy’s mother, 85, died two weeks later, and her father, 91, died in March.
"How have I gotten through? My daughters, my friends and my work," says McCarthy, over coffee in Neptune’s boardroom before rehearsals begin.
"And, you know, sadness, it can be a beautiful thing. It’s an important thing, you can’t cheat it. You just keep on.
"I think Pete would be really surprised that I’m doing a piece of theatre in Halifax because he was such a great actor. He rose up through the ranks at Stratford and every part got deeper. He was a working man’s actor; there was no artifice in his work. Pete was like a plumber."
In fact, she’s seeking inspiration from her husband’s approach to play the complex character of Teresa Parliament, a woman who, like McCarthy, is in her fifties and who, unlike McCarthy, steps out on her own after her husband of 32 years forgets their wedding anniversary.
She takes several different classes, from bowling to salsa to painting a naked man, in an attempt to find herself.
"Teresa Parliament has this very little life and the play is almost like a fable," says McCarthy, who has a dancer’s lean body, flashing eyes and a quick, warm smile. "It’s a journey down this new road almost to Oz where she encounters these people helping her, hindering her and scaring her.
"It’s one of the most complicated and interesting and sweet parts I’ve ever had, ever," says McCarthy, winner of two Gemini awards (for Emily of New Moon and Sesame Street) and two Genie awards (for I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing and The Lotus Eaters).
"While my situation is very different, I can relate to so much about a 32-year-old marriage with the children gone, with people saying, ‘We’re at this point in our lives, what’s next?’ And is this enough? Is the marriage enough?"
As funny as Foster’s work is, McCarthy finds it "very intricate and thought-provoking for an audience.
"People will question their own marriages, I hope."
McCarthy is loving her harbourside apartment on Lower Water Street and being on the East Coast is like being home. She started her career as a child taking dance lessons in Toronto from Alan Lund, who brought her to the Charlottetown Festival where she spent four years. She was Josee Pye, "the bad girl," in Anne of Green Gables, which toured Nova Scotia.
Then she was in Prince Edward Island for four years shooting Emily of New Moon, in which she played Aunt Laura, in the late 1990s.
"I love the Maritimes, I’m so happy to be back here. I love weather. It’s who we are — the more dramatic the better. Being here, that was a big part of coming to do the play. I’d get to spend eight weeks in Halifax. Both my daughters are coming out."
Neither of her daughters has gone into theatre. One is in creative advertising, the other has a degree in German film and cultural studies.
"Both are six feet tall. I think both could have gone into acting. They both had parts on Emily of New Moon and were wonderful. I think Pete and I, we drummed it out of them. You’re always finishing a job and looking again. They saw very early on how unglamorous the whole thing is."
Also coming out to see her is Deb McGrath, who has starred with her on Little Mosque on the Prairie, now airing its final season on CBC-TV.
Apart from leading to lasting friendships, Little Mosque "saw me right through menopause, which was great!" she says. "And for any working actor to have a TV series while your kids are in university is great."
Taping the final season this summer as Sarah Hamoudi, the originally Anglican wife of the Muslim Yasir, was a good distraction from her grief.
After six years "it was a little family of actors who loved each other and it was really, really fun. To be part of a little show like that that’s resonated around the world was very rewarding."
She watched Little Mosque the other night because it featured her character, now separated, and McGrath’s mayor out on the town and "her drunk was hilarious."
"I don’t often watch them because I have this illusion that I’m still 30 and I see myself and go, ‘Oh my God, lady, not so much.’ And because I’ve elected not to do plastic surgery when I watch myself, I go, ‘Oh, dear God.’ "
Opening night is McCarthy’s birthday and as she plays Teresa she has been reflecting on how she’s dealt with the changes in her own life.
Coming to Halifax has been the right move. "I came out here wondering if I would like being on stage again because my last few experiences on stage were not great ones. So far I’m loving it."
PLAYBILL
WHAT: Mrs. Parliament’s Night Out, a new comedy by Norm Foster, premieres Friday at Neptune Theatre and runs to Feb. 19.
THE STORY: When Teresa’s husband forgets their 32nd wedding anniversary she realizes it’s time to stop waiting for her husband’s attention and put herself first. She decides to take a class, or six, in an attempt to find herself. Whether she’s bowling, taking salsa lessons or painting a naked man, she discovers a whole new world of interesting characters.
STARRING: award-winning Canadian film, stage and TV actor Sheila McCarthy as Teresa, Marty Burt, Francine Deschepper, Wade Lynch, Bill McFadden, Jack Nicholsen and Sherry Smith
CREATIVE TEAM: director Miles Potter, set and costume designer Patrick Clark, lighting designer Leigh Ann Vardy, stage manager Jane Creaser, assistant director Lesley Smith, assistant stage manager Heather Lewis and apprentice stage manager Hannah Burrows
SHOW TIMES: Tuesday to Friday, 8 p.m., Saturdays, 4 and 8:30 p.m. Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $15 to $48 plus tax, online ( www.neptunetheatre.com) or by phone (429-7070) or at the 1593 Argyle St. box office