Redheaded Stepchild will take you right back to middle school, into a world where pre-teen angst fills the halls, where the popular kids and bullies are still pulling the strings and the misfits are looking for ways to express themselves.
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What:Redheaded Stepchild (Playwrights Canada Press, 2016)Who:Johnnie Walker is a playwright, performer, and director living in Toronto. He received the 2010 SummerWorks Emerging Artist Award for Redheaded Stepchild, which he has performed in Toronto, Victoria, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, and New York City. Johnnie is the founder and co-artistic producer of Nobody’s Business Theatre. Some of his plays include Scheherazade, The Other Three Sisters, and Muhammad of Yorkville. He is currently developing his first short film, Saturn Devours, and a new play with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. This is his first published play.Why you need to read this now:Redheaded Stepchild will take you right back to middle school, into a world where pre-teen angst fills the halls, where the popular kids and bullies are still pulling the strings and the misfits are looking for ways to express themselves. There you will meet Nicholas, a precocious and charming, twelve-year-old with bright red hair whose dad just remarried. He is the story’s redheaded stepchild, but he’s far from being a punch line. Nicholas is every misfit’s hero: he’s brave, funny, and often has a witty observation in moments where it’s easier to whine instead. Alongside Nicholas is his outrageous alter-ego Rufus Vermillion who sparks a fire in him and gives him a voice.Inspired in part by Kick A Ginger Day, which went viral in 2008, Johnnie Walker’s funny, and heartbreaking play explores bullying, homophobia, coming out, and the unique and often unusual experiences of those born with red hair. Reminiscent of Kristen Thomson’s I, Claudia, with a dose of Eddie Izzard, Redheaded Stepchild is a story that is both an ode to redheaded pre-teens and the unpopular kid in all of us. What others are saying about Redheaded Stepchild:“Walker’s creation is one of the most endearing and hilarious examples of pubescent precocity in recent memory. His absolute skepticism about pop culture and the pious jargon of the helping professions, his elaborate ironies, his matter-of-fact assessment of social reality (“only girls can dye their hair”), his perspectives on classic art (Rita Hayworth’s “smouldering red-headed intensity”)—all are wincingly judged.” —Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal “Walker is funny, poignant, angry and ultimately steals your heart in Redheaded Stepchild.” —Stephen Hunt, Calgary Herald“Walker wins us over with his honest, heartfelt and funny details….The climax is surprising yet inevitable, making Nicholas the most charming theatrical preteen since a troubled girl named Claudia.” —Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine X plus Y:Redheaded Stepchild blends the wry humour and insight of Kristen Thomson’s I, Claudia with the endearing confidence of Raziel Reid’s Jude in When Everything Feels Like the Movies.
* * *Thank you to Playwrights Canada, especially to Mandy, for sharing this fantastic play with us. If you love discovering new authors, check out our previous First Fiction Friday picks.
