All Fall Down

A “crucible-inspired” drama surrounding an inquiry into a doubtful molestation incident in a small town daycare, All Fall Down is a play about witch-hunting in the late 20th century.

The rumours and whispers in the community—every suspicion of the unusual, the eccentric, the unexplained—are added to the growing body of evidence that a heinous evil is afoot in the quiet innocence of the daycare centre. No distinction between circumstantial and substantive evidence is made: the evil is too profound, the threat too great. How, in such a poisoned atmosphere, does one maintain one’s sanity and reason, one’s imagination, compassion and sense of fairness? How does one determine what actually took place? What does one do in the absence of proof?

Cast of 2 women and 2 men.

AUTHOR

Wendy Lill

Wendy Lill was born in Vancouver in 1950 and was educated in both London and Toronto, ON. She lived for many years in Winnipeg, MB, and now resides in Dartmouth, NS, with her husband Richard and two children, Joe and Sam. She has written for magazines, radio, television, and stage. Her plays have been produced extensively on Canadian and international stages. Her play All Fall Down examines the roots of intolerance and hysteria and their effects on love. Sisters received the Labatt’s Canadian Play Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival. Primedia Productions brought out television versions of two of Lill’s plays, Sisters and Memories of You, both of which Lill scripted. (Sisters won a Gemini in 1992). Lill has four plays nominated for a Governor General’s Award for Drama: The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum, All Fall Down, The Occupation of Heather Rose, and Corker. Talonbooks has also published her Chimera, Messenger, and The Fighting Days. Between June 1997 and June 2004, Wendy Lill was the Member of Parliament for Dartmouth and the Culture Communications critic for the federal New Democratic Party (NDP).

Reviews

“All Fall Down is not about child abuse but rather about protecting the search for truth… Lill examines the roots of intolerance and hysteria and their effects on love… a powerful piece of work that affects every parent in the heart and gut. All Fall Down is a workout for the brain as well!”
—Globe and Mail

“Lill writes with compassion and complexity, with an unerring eye and seemingly effortless finesse – what more could you ask for?”
—Calgary Herald