This Is How We Got Here Education Resources - Shaw Festival Theatre

Fox on black background
This Is How We Got Here Education Resources
Trigger Warning: The play mentions suicide and has a simulated gunshot.
“I know what you're trying to do; I appreciate it, I do, but please just sit with me."
_________

The Story

Meet Lucille, Paul, Liset, and Jim. Best friends, sisters, spouses – stumbling in the dark one year after a tragic loss. They struggle to find each other again, when a mysterious fox shows up with a curious gift. Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming – a complex and hopeful story of love, loss, and letting go.

“… a down-to-earth drama that is as hopeful as it is mournful, full of life and lovable characters”
– J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail

“The dextrous telling of a familiar story … how reconnecting is not only possible but necessary.”
– Lisa McKeown, Now Magazine

“While the material of This is How We Got Here is deep, the show didn’t leave me feeling anything dark. Instead, I was happy to have experienced the talent of everyone involved, and to have gained perspective on what I felt were honest and true reactions to the tragedy of suicide.”
– Jeff Kerr, Mooney on Theatre

The Playwright/Director

“Humour has always been a big part of how my family operates. If we could make my mother laugh, we knew we wouldn’t get into trouble. My mom was a 911 dispatcher. Her job was to speak to people on their worst day, every shift, for thirty-one years. I don’t think it is a coincidence that she filled every other part of her life with humour and laughter. Looking back now, I know it was her way of coping. I feel the same way about plays dealing with challenging subject matter. Laughter has always been the best way for a playwright to take care of me in the theatre, and I have always tried to return the favour. Yes, the play deals with difficult subject matter, but hopefully it will also make you smile and laugh too.”

Keith Barker
Keith Barker, Playwright/Director
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