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Images courtesy of the artist

In Florence Louise Moyes attempts something intriguing: a theatrical documentary. Using footage of her interviews with a charismatic old woman called Florence Leprieur, she highlights and retells certain key aspects of an ordinary and yet extraordinary life. 

Sometimes Moyes recreates what the on screen Florence has just told us, taking on the woman’s voice and mannerisms. Sometimes she interacts with the onscreen Florence, taking on the role of interviewer (just as she did when the tape was originally recorded, several years ago in a Newfoundland living room). Sometimes she dances as Florence, in one of her beloved jigs or in an interpretation of Florence's feelings. 

What was it like, for example, to be a woman living in a remote town of L'Anse à Canard, Newfoundland, having 13 children and a husband away working for most of the year? No wonder that, according to Moyes, the young Florence would sneak off to dance the night away with male acquaintances whenever her husband deigned to return. 

So why has Louise Moyes, obviously a passionate and disciplined performer, chosen to tell the story of Florence Leprieur? Moyes refers to Florence as ‘Grammy’ at first, saying, “She’s no relation but if you met her she’d be your Grammy too”. There’s something wonderful about Moyes’s decision to honour the life of a friend in this very public and laborious way. But perhaps all art a tribute to one thing or another, whether an idea or a person?

Florence/Moyes tells several tall tales during the course of the show, such as the time a ship full of flour crashed into the coast near Florence’s home and she worked like a dog to get as many bags of flour as possible, knowing it would feed her family for the winter. 

The most vibrant impression of Florence, however, is of her rather blunt sense of humour, and her deep love of music. She would actually sing jigs, meaning that she would assume the role that a fiddle player would normally assume, providing the music for dances by using her voice and tapping her feet in complicated rhythms on the floor. Florence was apparently well-regarded as a creator of jigs, and even passed on other people’s best jigs; ones that her father had invented, for example. This is a wonderful, little known art form, and is one of the strongest elements of the piece.

It’s only a pity that Florence’s heavy accent on the video, coupled with the fairly poor quality of the audio recording, makes a lot of what she says difficult to understand. Moyes (playing Florence) often repeats what’s been said, and she speaks very clearly, but I for one still managed to miss quite a lot of what was going on. Add to this the fact that a good proportion of the performance is in Canadian French and there’s even more of a communication breakdown (gone are the days where it can be assumed that educated audiences all understand French!). 

I’d like to see the show use either surtitles or perhaps just explain some of the anecdotes in greater depth, going into more detail and providing more explanation of the historical and cultural context of the stories for the benefit of international audiences. There’s wonderful stuff here, and it’s frustrating to know that you’re not getting all of it.   

Florence allows us a fascinating glimpse into a little seen community, the world of French-speaking Newfoundlanders in the early part of the 20th century. Florence, 94 when the interviews for this show were recorded and now deceased, was one of the last of her kind, a sort of emissary from another world. Louise Moyes is to be admired for seeking to bring Florence’s stories to a greater audience and the hybrid documentary format she employs here proves effective.  


Ten Days on the Island presents
FLORENCE

BURNIE
Civic Theatre, Burnie Civic Centre, Wilmot Street
29 March at 8pm

CAMPBELL TOWN
Campbell Town Memorial Hall, High Street
31 March at 7pm

HOBART
Peacock Theatre, 77 Salamanca Place
2–5 April at 6pm

Duration: 1hr (No interval)
Tickets: $30, Concession $20
Online Bookings: www.tendaysontheisland.com