Wanted

by Sally Clark

It is 1897, and word of gold on the Klondike has spurred a frantic rush of miners to cash in on the riches rumoured to be found there. But by the time the prospectors arrive, all the claims have been staked. Without enough supplies or expertise to endure the harsh conditions of the north, hundreds of lives are devastated by starvation, exhaustion, and disease. Desperation sets in over the landscape and ushers in a harsh social climate of chaos, opportunism, and competition, with people willing to do literally anything to either survive or find a way out.

Very few women joined the scramble, and those who did usually found themselves in high demand as cooks, washers, and objects of entertainment. Little romance filled the air, and those women independent and strong-willed enough to break free of their traditional social constraints acquired great power over the men who attempted to buy and trade them like the most valuable of commodities, “worth their weight in gold.”

In its celebration of one woman’s determination to triumph over all who seek to possess her, Wanted is far more than a period-piece history play. Resonant with echoes of the contemporary global village in which every one and every thing, including body parts and functions, have their cynically and openly advertised price, it is a portrait of raw desire, greed, and lust for acquisition stripped of every veneer of civilization and reduced to a confrontation of the will to power in a world utterly indifferent to what is either fair or just.

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Sally Clark is a playwright, filmmaker and painter. She is the author of several plays, which include “Moo,” “The Trial of Judith K.,” “Jehanne of the Witches” and “Life Without Instruction.” Her plays have received a Chalmers Award, two Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations and a Governor General’s Award nomination.

In 1992, Sally Clark was a Resident at the Canadian Film Centre where she wrote and directed her short film, “Ten ways to abuse an old woman.” It won the Special Prix du Jury at the Henri Langlois International short film festival. Her short film, “The Art of Conversation” won the Bronze Award for Best Dramatic Short at the Worldfest Charleston Festival.