You Fancy Yourself

When Elsa and her family move from Iceland to Scotland, she is filled with uncontrollable joy over the new adventure she is about to begin. With her infectious energy and love for the dramatic, Elsa stands out both in her community and within her classroom, but this exuberance also targets her as an outcast. Only through the faith of a new friend and the strength of her imagination does Elsa find the courage to look inside herself and find pride in who she is and where she came from. Through her vivid characters Maja Ardal depicts Scotland in the 50s as a place of hope and harsh discrimination for immigrants.

AUTHOR

Maja Ardal

An Iceland-born Canadian, Maja Ardal was schooled in Scotland. She is a playwright, performer, theatre instructor, the former artistic director of Young People’s Theatre, and a core member of Contrary Company. She wrote Midnight Sun, produced by Tarragon Theatre and the National Arts Centre, and published by Playwrights Canada Press. Over her thirty-seven-year career she has directed at the Shaw Festival, the Grand Theatre, and Alberta Theatre Projects among others. For her illustrious career, Maja was the recipient of the 2002 George Luscombe Award for Mentorship in the Theatre. Maja is playwright-in-residence at Nightwood Theatre, and has written The Cure for Everything, a sequel to You Fancy Yourself.

Reviews

“You Fancy Yourself is a tough explosive work that sends passion spinning across the stage. Ideas tumble like battered leaves caught in a windstorm in Ardal’s excoriating vision.” —Hamilton Spectator
“In this story of a quirky adolescence, young immigrant Elsa tries to fit into 50s Edinburgh society, where people tend to be suspicious and judgmental.” —Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine