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Robert Chafe: Two Plays: Butler's Marsh and Tempting Providence
Butler's Marsh
Thirty years ago Nora's mother disappeared into the small, dense forest of Butler's Marsh. She emerged three days later, covered in blood, badly shaken, and completely silent about what had happened. Having never been offered a suitable explanation, and now finding herself at her own moment of crisis, Nora ventures to Newfoundland for the first time to explore Butler's Marsh for herself. She is accompanied by her partner Tim, who, while less than helpful, is nevertheless adamant that she not be left alone. But as Nora's night in Butler's Marsh unfolds, and Tim's good humour wanes, the primary question of what happened to her mother quickly becomes less troubling than another; with whom exactly is she lost in the woods?
Tempting Providence
In 1921 Myra Grimsley signed a two-year contract and boarded a steamship from London, England, to St. John's, Newfoundland. Her to serve as the sole health-care provider for three hundred miles of the sparsely settled coast of Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. By the time her contract ran out two years later, Myra was married to local Angus Bennett, and had given birth to their first child, Grace. Based on the true story of Nurse Myra Bennett, Tempting Providence is a play about duty and sadness, love and change. Four strong characters drive this no-frills drama about a young British nurse who only signed on for two years, and the local man for whom she stayed for seventy.
Thirty years ago Nora's mother disappeared into the small, dense forest of Butler's Marsh. She emerged three days later, covered in blood, badly shaken, and completely silent about what had happened. Having never been offered a suitable explanation, and now finding herself at her own moment of crisis, Nora ventures to Newfoundland for the first time to explore Butler's Marsh for herself. She is accompanied by her partner Tim, who, while less than helpful, is nevertheless adamant that she not be left alone. But as Nora's night in Butler's Marsh unfolds, and Tim's good humour wanes, the primary question of what happened to her mother quickly becomes less troubling than another; with whom exactly is she lost in the woods?
Tempting Providence
In 1921 Myra Grimsley signed a two-year contract and boarded a steamship from London, England, to St. John's, Newfoundland. Her to serve as the sole health-care provider for three hundred miles of the sparsely settled coast of Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. By the time her contract ran out two years later, Myra was married to local Angus Bennett, and had given birth to their first child, Grace. Based on the true story of Nurse Myra Bennett, Tempting Providence is a play about duty and sadness, love and change. Four strong characters drive this no-frills drama about a young British nurse who only signed on for two years, and the local man for whom she stayed for seventy.
202 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 30, 2021
Read for School
November 28, 2023
Only read "Tempting Providence", and I loved it. I remember seeing the touring production Jillian Keiley directed many years ago, and it was some of the best directing I've ever seen. I love the Keiley/Chafe duo.
March 14, 2021
Read to be in the show. Very misterious and kind of weird hahaha. Tim is crazy
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November 29, 2023Just read "Tempting Providence."
Lovely play.
Lovely play.
February 22, 2019
Butler's Marsh:
I don't have a ton of experience reading plays but I seem to like the strange ones. I'd love to see this one performed.
I don't have a ton of experience reading plays but I seem to like the strange ones. I'd love to see this one performed.
December 24, 2016
183. Two Plays by Robert Chafe
These two plays, Butler’s Marsh and Providence, could not be more different. They both stand up and both take place in Newfoundland. Both were also nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Butler’s Marsh is a two-person play that is set in the Newfoundland woods. A young woman has gone to a place where her mother was found years ago after disappearing for several days, blood-covered and mentally distraught. Is her boyfriend with her or is she hallucinating him? Was her mother pregnant when she went into the woods? Why does everyone, male or female, who spends a night in Butler’s Marsh go mad? Providence is an historical piece with the subsidiary actors playing several roles. It is based on the life of a British nurse, Myra Grimsley, who comes to an outport to meet the needs of the local people, has to work for acceptance in the village, marries a local fisherman and stays for life. Gentle and lovely, with segments of what she did for the community, and it reflects the history of the outports and the people who lived there.
These two plays, Butler’s Marsh and Providence, could not be more different. They both stand up and both take place in Newfoundland. Both were also nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Butler’s Marsh is a two-person play that is set in the Newfoundland woods. A young woman has gone to a place where her mother was found years ago after disappearing for several days, blood-covered and mentally distraught. Is her boyfriend with her or is she hallucinating him? Was her mother pregnant when she went into the woods? Why does everyone, male or female, who spends a night in Butler’s Marsh go mad? Providence is an historical piece with the subsidiary actors playing several roles. It is based on the life of a British nurse, Myra Grimsley, who comes to an outport to meet the needs of the local people, has to work for acceptance in the village, marries a local fisherman and stays for life. Gentle and lovely, with segments of what she did for the community, and it reflects the history of the outports and the people who lived there.
December 14, 2014
Tempting Providence: alas, like a number of historical Canadian plays, rather like vomiting candy canes.
October 31, 2014
Read Tempting Providence only.
February 21, 2016
Of the two plays, Tempting Providence is much stronger and I really enjoyed a production of it starring Deidre Gillard-Rowlings as Nurse Bennett at The Rooms in St. John's.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews