The Mother Act: A Theatrical Book Launch

Come celebrate the publication of The Mother Act as we bring the pages of the book to life onstage! Hosted by Anena Hansen, the evening will feature a performance by Carmen Grant as Sadie Jones as well as an onstage interview with author Heidi Reimer and Governor General's Award winning novelist Sarah Henstra, author of The Red Word and The Lost Tarot.

Dress code: Opening night chic (but only if that's fun to you)

7:00-7:30pm

Before the Show

Arrive, buy a book, grab a drink, mill & mingle. Another Story Bookshop will be on site to sell copies of the book.

7:30-8:15pm
The Mother Act: The Show

Time to find your seat...the book is beginning! Walk into the pages of The Mother Act, guided by Anena Hansen and featuring Heidi Reimer as the author and actor Carmen Grant as Sadie Jones. We'll hear a few words from Sarah Jackson, Heidi's editor at Random House Canada, and some thank yous and acknowledgements from Heidi, which she promises won't be boring. Our onstage portion of the evening culminates in a live interview with Heidi and Governor General's Award winning novelist Sarah Henstra.

8:15-9:30pm
After the Show

Eat cake, grab another drink, get your book signed, hang out!

Cast

Carmen Grant as Sadie Jones
Heidi Reimer as The Author
Anena Hansen as The Host
Sarah Jackson as The Editor
Sarah Henstra as Herself

Production & Creative Team

Director: Richard Sheridan Willis
Producer: Heidi Reimer
Front of House Manager: Aphra Reimer-Willis
Catering Manager: Maia Reimer

About The Mother Act by Heidi Reimer

"Propulsive and affecting.... This is worthy of a standing ovation." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Set against the sparkling backdrop of the theatre world, this propulsive debut follows the relationship between an actress who refuses to abandon her career and the daughter she chooses to abandon instead.

Sadie Jones, a larger-than-life actress and controversial feminist, never wanted to be a mother. No one feels this more deeply than Jude, the daughter Sadie left behind. While Jude spent her childhood touring with her father’s Shakespearian theater company, desperate for validation from the mother she barely knew, Sadie catapulted to fame on the wings of The Mother Act—a scathing one-woman show about motherhood.

Two decades later, Jude is a talented actress in her own right, and her fraught relationship with Sadie has come to a scandalous head. On a December evening in New York City, at the packed premiere of Sadie’s latest play, the two come face-to-face and the intertwined stories of their lives unfold—colorfully and dramatically. What emerges is a picture of two very different women navigating the complicated worlds of career, love, and family, all while grappling with the essential question: can they ever really understand each other?

Compelling, insightful, and cleverly conveyed as a play in six acts, The Mother Act is a stylish page-turner that looks at what it means to be a devoted mother and a devoted artist—and whether it is possible to be both.

Loads of Thanks To:

Random House Canada, Dutton, Sarah Jackson, Arielle Datz, Lexy Cassola, Emma Ingram, Anaïs Loewen-Young, Caroline Payne, Hannah Poole, Chin Palipane, Luis Fernandes, and Another Story Bookshop.

We're striving for a fragrance-free environment. Please skip the perfume, cologne, fancy pungent aftershave, and odorous hair mist.