Online Only: Sage theatre’s latest features fast-paced comedy

By Meaghan Carrier

The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls is a story about three sisters whose father’s death reunites them in a fast-paced comedy, directed by Sage Theatre founding artistic director Rob Moffat.


The show is a comedy featuring the three Fine sisters, played by Nicola Elson, Elinor Holt and Ava Jane Markus, whose theatrical backgrounds include clown training and improvisational theatre. The humour in this comedy can be described is slapstick, satirical with some pop culture references, and provocative.


The Sage production of The Attic is also very prop heavy.


“Each of the props is really key,” says Moffat. “The choices we made on what to include and what not to include, there was a thinking integrity behind it all. We’ve taken some pains to make sure that the script is somewhat reflective of a Calgary setting.”


The show, originally set in Ontario, will feature elements of Calgary in its set design and general montage.


The bittersweet reunion of the three sisters fashions varying emotions for each member of the audience.


“The play launches itself into the surreal quite easily, quite frequently” Moffat says. “At the same time, it turns on a dime and comes to a very poignant moment of truth. Some of the moments are very complicated and some of the moments are ones, which people can come away and talk about afterwards. It’s almost finding the ballast between the hysterical and moments of quietness and reflection.”


Moffat is excited for the play, especially after its positive reception in its preview performance. “It’s a play to be heard, it’s a play to be watched and I think that the colours and the lights and the costumes and the set, we were all very selective about those things.” says Moffat. “I think it’s an evolving and very creative and dimensional performance piece.”