Comments on: Piecework: When We Were French

By: Dell Waterhouse

Dell Waterhouse — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:49:04 +0000

Dear Abby,
I am diappointed to realize that I have missed the chance to see your performance of this amazing piece for a second time. I saw you perform Piecework: When We Were French last year at Lost Nation Theater and I was so amazed and delighted by the array of characters/personalities that you were able to help your audience envision. I don’t know of any French-Canadian heritage in my own family, but I found these charaacters and their stories deeply moving. I would like to encourage you to continue to offer this piece to audiences, and I would love to be on an e-mail list, if you have one, to be informed of future perfomances.

By: Louise Amyot

Louise Amyot — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:11:03 +0000

My husband and I very much enjoyed the presentation in Turners Falls, MA on January 30, 2010. We hope that Abby will perform it also in Manchester and Rochester, NH, Woonsocket, RI and Lowell, MA as all of these communities have strong French-Canadian roots and a history of mills which attracted them.
The play reminded us of growing up in Manchester where there were many French-speaking parishes, with bi-lingual schools, and where French was spoken in most of the stores our mothers frequented.
I think there are many connections that might be interested in this play. I’d like to suggest the Association Canado Americaine and the Ste. Marie’s Credit Union Museum as starting points in Manchester.
Abby might also enjoy Fred Pellerin’s CD “Silence” and, especially, the single “Mommy”, by Marc Gelinas and Gilles Richer. This song is about a child asking his mother why his name changed from the French to English and his confusion and sense of loss over it.
This play expressed that loss well. I hope many people will see it. Thank you, Abby. Very nice work.

By: Theresa Duguay

Theresa Duguay — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:19:43 +0000

I had the privilege of seeing this show at the St. Johnsbury School last evening. Abby is a talented performer who adroitly captures the experiences of French-Canadian immigrants and their descendents. I grew up in St. Johnsbury when it had a close-knit French Catholic community with a church, schools, and a hospital. Though French was not spoken in my home, it was spoken in the homes of some of my friends. My mother was non-French speaking, so the language was lost in my generation. Still I remember hearing my father speaking French to people throughout his life, and I heard many stories of both my memere’s life and my fathers. All that we have left–as Abby said–is the meat pie and a French name. Her show made me homesick for a time and a people who have almost completely died out. Thank you, Abby, for doing this show.

By: eben

eben — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:06:27 +0000

Great picture do you know the date? I wish i was back in vermont to see it. if you tape the show please pass it along

Eben

By: David

David — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:09:32 +0000

Abby,

My wife and I saw your show at the Qudricentenial last summer and we’d like you to know it touched us both very much. I was born and brought up catholic in New Bedford, MA in a very french parish and eventually moved to Vermont after my father’s passing. My mother also died at a young age and I soon felt the need for some familial connections.

After a first cousin reuion, the first I had seen some of them in 30+ years, I did some genealogy research. I discovered that I am a direct decendent of one of the founding families of Quebec in the early 1600′s. Before that, I had no idea who my great-grandfathers name was! So now I feel some very deep connections with my heritage.

My wife was born in Hardwick, VT and has a completely British background. She remembers growing up in Hardwick with it’s strong French community that she “felt somehow superior to the French folks in town. No one ever said anything derogatory that I can remember” she said. “It was just something that was there.”

Your show and it’s quilt theme reminded me of all of the little activities that happened in parochial school, at church, at Meme’s house, at cousins gatheirngs. My wife got to see all of these in your show and came away with a better understanding of ‘the other side’.

I wanted to thank you for all the efforts you put into creating your excellent show and reminding me that life is made up of all those moments that make us who we are and that we need to decide what our heritage means to us.

I, like Craig above, would very much like to be able to have your show on video and share it with family.

So thank you again and to anyone reading this with any interest at all in French Canadian culture, this is a show not to be missed.

David Boucher

By: Craig Billado

Craig Billado — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:37:32 +0000

Dear Abby (I always wanted to write that!),

My name is Craig Billado. I live near Boulder, CO, but was born and raised in the Greater Burlington area of Vermont. I really appreciate the photo above. I’m not entirely familiar with my family history, but I do know we came down from Canada at some point. To think that I might be related to the folks in that picture is fascinating.

Unfortunately, I don’t have plans to be in Vermont any time soon. Is ‘Piecework’ available in video format? I’d love to see it!

Sincerely,

Craig

By: Rhea Cote Robbins

Rhea Cote Robbins — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:06:27 +0000

hello, I am an author, Wednesday’s Child, is the title of my book and I also teach at the University of Maine at Orono about Franco-American women. I will be using this material, info about your play, as a link, in my Fall course. Also, I will be blogging about your upcoming shows on my FA news/events blog…which has over 2,000 hits per week, which tells me there is interest in this particular subject matter. Link:
http://fanset8.blogspot.com/

Good luck! and good work! Rhea