I received this book from Playwrights Canada Press in exchange for an honest review.
“He knows where everyone is! He just doesn’t want to tell us,” (Walsh 105).
Things have not been going well for twelve-year-old Genevieve, her mom is missing and Genevieve has to help out around the house and make sandwiches for her many brothers and dad and no one will tell her when her mom is coming home. She also really wants to be an altar server, but it’s 1963 and Father Paul and her classmate (and star altar boy) Martin tell her that girls can’t be altar servers. So Genevieve prays to God hoping he’ll make an exception, but instead of God answering a fourteen-year-old Roman martyr, St. Pancras, appears to her and promises to get her an answer. But then Martin goes missing, and Genevieve worries St. Pancras may have misunderstood what she was asking for. She’s starting to wonder if there’s anyone out there who actually listens to her prayers.
Wow wow wow I loved this! While I didn’t grow up in the 1960s, I was raised Catholic, and unlike Genevieve I was an altar server, so I can relate to what it’s like to be taught to have faith and the desperation that can come from prayer. This need to be heard, to be listened to, waiting for an answer and wondering why an answer won’t come when you’re doing everything you’re supposed to. Walsh does an excellent job creating the both comforting and at terrifying atmosphere of the church, I could almost smell the incense.
Walsh also did a remarkable job talking about the struggle of keeping faith in a way that made me ache for Genevieve. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a funny play, but the sad moments are sad. Luckily Walsh does an excellent job balancing the two, creating an entertaining play I didn’t want to stop reading. This is such a strongly written script and the characters all felt so real. I loved the interactions between Genevieve and St. Pancras, a saint I also didn’t know about until this play.
Do This in Memory of Me is a strong play, tackling heavy topics of faith, sexism, and women’s roles. Walsh is a playwright to look out for and I hope I get to see this onstage someday.
Publication: April 5 2022
Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
Pages: 128 pages (Paperback)
Source: Owned (Thanks Playwrights Canada Press!!!)
Genre: Fiction, Play, Theatre, Canadian
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
Twelve-year-old Genevieve has been having a hard time at home, and all she really wants is to be an altar server at her church. Except it’s 1963 and Father Paul tells her that’s not allowed. After having her dreams crushed and being made fun of by her classmate and star altar boy Martin, Genevieve prays to God hoping for an exception. Instead, a fourteen-year-old martyr from the fourth century, Saint Pancras, appears and promises to get her an answer from God. But with her mom missing for weeks and Martin disappearing on his way home from school the next day, she fears her prayers have been answered in dire ways. Do This in Memory of Me is for anyone who has ever questioned the relationship between faith and trust or wondered where they fit in the bigger picture.
Sarah O'Connor 