Homechild

the long version

"Between 1860 and 1930 an officially sanctioned child migration from Britain to Canada took place, during which over 80,000 children, unaccompanied by thier parents or siblings and often separated from them forever, were placed in factories and farms where they were exploited as indentured child labourers." "Alistair is a retired farmer who lives with his sister-in-law Flora and son Ewan on their family homestead. No longer a viable enterprise, the fields have long been leased out and the house is in serious disrepair. The scattered remnants of the family are gathering for a shaky reunion that soon turns acrimonious. Alistair suffers a stroke and his illness finally releases the memory of a secret that he had buried deep within himself years ago. He longs for Katie, the younger sister he was forced to leave behind in Scotland when he came to Canada in 1922 as a 'home child.'" "This is a play about family secrets and the many forms of love, loss, longing and aspiration they conceal. It takes a piece of history from a dark corner of our country's past and dramatizes its tragic impact through the generations of one family."--Jacket.