The (Post) Mistress

The (Post) Mistress is a musical play by Tomson Highway.^[1] The play has also been staged in a French version titled Zesty Gopher s'est fait écraser par un frigo^[2] and a Cree version titled Kisageetin,^[3] although The (Post) Mistress, a predominantly English show which retains some French and Cree lyrics, is the most widely produced version.

Set in the 1960s, the show centres on Marie-Louise, a postmistress in the small Northern Ontario town of Lovely, on the rural outskirts of the larger city of Complexity.^[2] She possesses the supernatural ability to read through sealed envelopes, thus serving as a keeper of the town's stories and secrets,^[2] and the songs detail her revelations about life in the community.^[3] The city of Complexity is based on the Ontario city of Sudbury,^[2] while the town of Lovely is a pastiche of the city's suburban and outlying rural francophone communities such as Chelmsford, Azilda and Highway's own hometown of Noëlville.^[2]

Most productions of the show to date have starred Sudbury musician and actress Patricia Cano in the lead role,^[2][3] although some have also starred Pandora Topp^[4] or Martha Irving.^[5]

The play was published in book form by Talonbooks in 2013.^[6] A soundtrack album, with Cano performing the songs, was released in 2014,^[7] and garnered a Juno Award nomination for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015.^[8]

Songs

1. "Taansi Nimiss" (5:06)
2. "Hey, Good-Lookin'" (3:40)
3. "Quand je danse" (5:08)
4. "Oh Little Bear" (5:26)
5. "Love I Know Is Here" (5:39)
6. "The Window" (5:37)
7. "When Last I Was in Buenos Aires, Argentina" (8:56)
8. "Some Say a Rose" (6:36)
9. "Mad to Love" (5:21)
10. "Have I Told You" (6:46)
11. "The Robins of Dawn" (7:34)

References