MOTET to Present OUT OF THE FOG, 6/15-23

MOTET is a new company founded by seasoned actors Victoria Barkoff and Jane Gilchrist. Their inaugural production is Jane Gilchrist's new play Out of the Fog, directed by Jacqueline van de Geer for the Montreal Fringe Festival, Venue 7- Bain St. Michel, from June 15-23.

In Out of the Fog, Georgia Clark (Jane Gilchrist), a stern elementary school teacher, is determined to make her students set aside fantasy and face reality. School Counsellor Diana Adams (Victoria Barkoff) hopes to alter Georgia's severe methods. The conflict between them is put on hold when Georgia's student Frank (Matthew Comeau/Alexander Fitchev alternating roles) goes missing. The women unite to try to save him.

Out of the Fog springs from an attempt to understand a dour fourth grade teacher who put the author's own daughter through a bad year by regularly announcing everybody's marks after tests, shaming those who were not performing well and puffing up the egos of those who were on top. Gilchrist explains, "My daughter took the shaming seriously and worked hard to rise from the middle of the class to fourth place, but it was a joyless effort." She continues, "And what about the kids who could not do any better?" The unhappy boy in this play is one such tormented child.