On March 7^th, 2015, I attended the matinee show of This is for You, Anna at Hart House Theatre. I didn’t know much about the story except for main premise- a woman named Marianne Bachmeier walks into a courtroom, shoots the alleged killer of her daughter seven times and receives spontaneous applause for an act of vigilante justice.

Hart House Theatre is a large, lovely space and this show utilized a simple set design. Two clotheslines containing mostly women’s garments extended into the left and right sides of the theatre, creating a V shape. On the left side of the stage, there was an old television just below a bed sheet.

Four women stepped out from behind the clotheslines, all dressed in black, providing an interesting contrast from the whiteness of the set. The four actresses that performed were Claudia Carino, Lesley Robertson, Amaka Umeh, and Melissa Williams. Each performer took on several roles, which was sometimes confusing, but thoroughly impressive. This was especially the case for Carino and Williams as their debuts at Hart House Theatre.

This is for You, Anna wasn’t strictly the story of Marianne Bachmeier. If anything, her story was used as the grounding for a variety of narratives and issues. There were many intertwined storylines that had elements relating to feminism and violence against women. The only criticism was that as the characters often changed so quickly, it was sometimes difficult to keep up. In the instances where Marianne Bachmeier was present, all four actresses portrayed her at the same time. It was interesting to watch because each of them could represent a different emotion of Marianne’s or enact a different scene with her and her daughter.

A common theme that ran throughout the play was laughter. The actresses would often speak to each other about moments in their lives, but as soon as the conversation would turn to something about violence, they would all break out into uncomfortable laughter. It was completely relatable. Most people laugh when they aren’t sure how to interpret something.

Although the storylines were sometimes hard to keep up with, they reflected the complexity of the narrative themes. Violence against women is an increasingly difficult topic to discuss, but this play does it in a cultivated, beautiful way.

Featured image courtesy of Hart House Theatre