In Soutensions, family tensions erupt on the theatre stage

It’s a cliché to call a piece of creative work “my baby,” but for Amber O’Reilly, writing a script, shaping a lyric or giving voice to a poem is the only kind of parenthood she’s ever been chasing.

The 32-year-old O’Reilly has known since the final years of high school that mothering wasn’t of interest to her, at least not in the literal sense.

“As a creative person, I think there are other things I will leave behind in the world after I pass on, for whatever I know,” says the writer, raised in a francophone home in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

“I’m more focused on caring for my parents and other older family members. Rather than bringing new life into the world, that’s where I’d like to contribute. I don’t necessarily need to become a mother to have the role of a caregiver or a caring person.”

The ramifications of that decision propel Soutensions, a domestic comedy about familial expectations and O’Reilly’s newest play with Théâtre Cercle Molière.

The playwright, who lived in Winnipeg from 2013 until 2023, chose to coin a new phrase when translating her title to English: Undertoils.

“It touches on the torment that can be felt when a family doesn’t agree with your choices, when you’re having to justify or defend yourself. That’s something Brandi deals with a lot in the play,” says O’Reilly.

Aside from the choice to forgo procreation, O’Reilly says Brandi (Karam Daoud) is a fictional character, one determined to solidify her position within the nuclear family even if she’s viewed by some relatives as an unstable isotope.

On the occasion of her sister’s twins’ first birthday, Brandi decides to host the party in her basement apartment. The unplanned arrival of an estranged aunt adds an element of chaos to what should be a straightforward celebration.

“There’s this sardine effect. Everyone’s all kind of stuck together, piled on top of one another, bringing them face to face with their conflicts,” O’Reilly says.

O’Reilly got her start in theatre by writing reviews for local francophone newspaper La Liberté, and has a tendency toward telling stories that play out “at home,” even as they’re influenced by global conditions.

Her first play with Théâtre Cercle Molière, 2021’s Annie et Tom du lundi au vendredi, followed the titular couple through a week of romantic ups and downs, many of which are exacerbated by their addictions to work and digital escapism.

“I’m really interested in relationships and all the different barriers that can come into play when we think about communication and understanding each other as human beings,” O’Reilly says.

One relationship that strengthened the production was O’Reilly’s with director Danielle Sturk, an experienced hand in fictional feature film, documentary and dance.

“This is her first time directing a work of theatre, but what I really admire in her work is the way she portrays family dynamics across generations,” the playwright says.

“She’s also fundamentally feminist in her creative practice, and her perspective as a mother of four girls differs from mine, so I think our experiences as women were really quite complementary to each other in this work.”

Though O’Reilly was forced through writing to consider other perspectives about child-rearing, she’s stuck to her position, which isn’t as uncommon as it might feel to Brandi. In 2022, Statistics Canada reported that one-third of adults didn’t want to have kids.

But in a play with a sample size of five adult characters, none is the loneliest number.

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