productions
intro
Maryjane was born in Welland, Ontario and is a graduate of Brock University. She is an award winning playwright as well as a published lyricist and composer. Her plays have been performed across North America and Germany and have been translated into French, Italian and German. Maryjane taught school for many years in Toronto and Niagara.She was an ambassador for promoting the arts to young people through school and festival productions.Her plays include, On Albert Street (a musical), Dried Flowers, In My Life,A Stranger in Our House, Separate Beds and Split.
split
Marty and Izzy Miller and Colin and Nola Clark have been best friends since high school. Their children, Vince Miller and Abby Clark are engaged to be married. When Vince and Abby suddenly split... a secret is revealed at a dinner party which shatters their life long friendship. The play explores forgiveness and the ability to move forward when friendship takes a turn.
Cast: 2f 2m
stranger in our house
Stranger In Our House explores the Miller family’s struggle to adapt after the father, a successful doctor, suffers a stroke that leaves him very much a stranger to his wife, Maeve and grown children, Buddy and Leah.
Cast:2F 2M
in my life
It is 1968 and a time of social change in America. Meet 13 teenagers who must deal with the issues of being popular, body image, parents, obsession and abuse.
At April’s seventeenth birthday, a lie told at the party results in a car accident that changes lives forever. In My Life is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, assassinations and the music of the Beatles.
8F 5M
dried flowers
Follows the compelling story of three women, each one at a critical turning point in her life...Lil, 49, is unemployed, lonely and still seeking the approval of her mother while....Vi, who is about to turn 60, is torn between caring for a husband afflicted with Alzheimer’s and her desire to find fulfillment outside the confines of her home....and Iris, 40, must decide whether her marriage is worth saving. None of the women anticipate how the lives of the others will impact or transform her own.
1998 First place winner: Theatre British Columbia One Act Playwriting Competition
1998 First Place winner in the 59th Canadian One Act Playwriting Competition (Karsh award)
Running Time: 50 minutes
I F (solo)
separate beds
Separate Beds is a romantic comedy about two couples on a Caribbean cruise celebrating their anniversaries. Blake and Beth are successful and sophisticated and flaunt their glamorous marriage while Ernie and Twink who lead a mundane life try to save theirs. Both couples are forced to wade through the choppy waters of their lives to take a deeper look at both reality and perception. This comedy will ring true with any couple who has ever contemplated sleeping in Separate Beds.
Separate Beds was written for 2 actors to play both couples. However, 4 actors can be cast depending on the needs of the theatre.
2F 2M
Published by Playwrights Canada Press
albert street
A Play with Music. It is 1935 Welland, Ontario, as we join the lives of three Italian immigrant families who live side by side. The play takes place on the three front porches of Albert Street. At a family wedding joining two of the families, an accident is the catalyst to unravel the myriad of secrets on Albert Street. There are ten songs that weave throughout the play.
4F 4M
Christmas choral song
Christmas Choral Song
The Night That He Was Born (unison)
First place winner in the Amadeus Carol Competition Published in the Elmer Iseler Series