Wake of the Bones
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In the 1840's the ships bringing Irish immigrants to Montreal carried typhus. Thousands died in the fever sheds known as Goose Village on the future site of the Victoria Bridge. They were given proper Christian burial by priests but in mass graves. The Irish did populate Montreal massively, starting with the area known as Griffintown, contained between Guy and McGill streets, and, North to South, between William and Wellington streets. They worked on the construction of both the Lachine Canal and the Victoria Bridge. During the excavation for the bridge's foundations, the workers came upon the bones of their fellow Irishmen. They asked for the black boulder still visible on Bridge St to be placed at the site.


The play tells the story of a wake held for these bones. Iris sings with the ship sails as a backdrop. The men work dig up the stones for the Bridge while the women run a laundry business in their slum homes. Molley the sightseer comes to help them hold a wake for a wooden puppet which symbolizes all the dead they cannot forget.


By David Gow
Director: Andrew Johnston
SM: Irène Arsenault
Sets and props: Anouk Looten assisted by Lise Antunes Simoes
Costumes: Karen Pearce
Puppet: Lyne Paquette
Lighting: Joshua Lamb
Scenic artist: Lea Durocher
Set building: Ken Brownridge and Marc Roy
Artists: Danielle Desormeaux, Shayne Devouges, Daniel Giverin, Emily Lamarche, Laura Teasdale
Premiered at Hudson Village Theatre, Hudson (Qc)