Frannie Sheridan performs one-woman show B the Waltonsteins, Thursdays through Sundays te March 7 at Arts Club Theatre’s Granville Island Stage Layne Christensen News Reporter layne@nsnews.com FRANNIE Sheridan grew up in a house of lies. Crueley and deceit rocked her childhood. tamily’s secret divided her trom her six siblings. It poisaned her relationships as an adult. Tr messed with her self-esteem. Confronting her family's demons has allowe Sounds like a the real-life story of West Van ronal wright-comedienne Frannie Sheridan, And it oon be coming to a theatre near you. Sheridan is working with Canadian-born d irector Arthur Hiller to bring to the big Frannie’ s father, ‘who denied hi Jewish idlenti- ty for fear of further persecution, A prominent Onawa eye doctor, he forced his family to live as Catholics. His paranoia and the emotional abuse he inflicted on his and children were the outcome of his wartime experience and the horrors of the Holacaust. Daily he warned his children never to reveal ¢ Jewish past. It is this story that Sheridan first told in *95 when she presented her one-woman show, The Waltonsteins at Gastown Theatre, The play title paredies The Waltens, TV’s all- American family. She restages her comedic drama this week and next at the Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage. Sheridan hadn’t meant to crack her family’s 30-year code of silence in such a public man- ner. For ycars, she kept her family’s secret. “I was not going to do anything with ic,” said Sheridan, speaking to the News before the play’ 's opening Thursday. “It was all very unpianned.” ‘Sheridan was working in Vancouver as a stand-up comic when she was approached by colleague looking for matcrial for a festival of plays. A friend suggested she tum her family tale into a story for the stage. “She kept nudging me and nudging me,” says Sheridan, who eventually turned out a tightly written script. She has since staged her play at Vancouver's Norman Kothstein The nd Ottawa's Museum ef Civilization theatre. sin Ottawa that Sheridan first met Hiller, the Hollwwood director best known for directing Love Story. Te Hew to Ottawa as a surprise fo see my nay." says Sheridan. “He is an adorable man She had already been in contact with Hiller by ny phone. The Hollywood director hy Jan's story in. an Ouawa CHL nt to him by a tiend. Together, they worked ona script. Hiller has committed to directing the film Now their seript is out to a number of Hollywood stars, including hard Dreytiss, who is favoured for the role of the father. Sheridan will play her mother. Writing and performing the plav and devel- oping the movie script has been something of a healing journey for Sheridan, who says, liv- ing alic took its toll in her adult lit s constintly coming up against w in my personal life and as an artist. People Ity believed in my ability as a performer,” . “E would shine as a performer and en J would go into this incredibly immabi- lizing place and T didn’t know why. “I tele the shame because, from my experi- ence, What hapoens when you hide who vou are, is toxic. And it permeates your existence Since bringing her family’s story to the ee, she has had nothing but positive feed- back from audiences, says Sheridan. “Everybody has secrets and lies,” she t performance in "95 drew interna- tional press. The press brought her in contact with long-lost relatives and family ¢ It’s helped bring a reconciliation with her father, now living in Vienna. He has recently re-attirmed his Jewish faith, as have a number of Sheridan’s siblings. Her mother, whe died 88, came back to Judaism before she died. The playwright herself is also reconnecting with her heritage. Wen she finishes her Vancouver run, Sheridan will be taking her show on the road, with planned performances of The Waleonsteins in Arizona, Indiana, Saskatchewan and Florida. says, but the positive reinforcement she 1 receives from the packed houses she plays is helping her face the future. “jt’s a toif going to these dark places and recreating them. And although there is humour, and plenty of it, it is still dark. “Hf people didn’t come to me after (the show) and I could feel (emotion) back from: the audience, | wouldn’t do it because it would be like self-sabotage.” FRANNIE Sheridan performs a cast of characters from her own Waltonsteins, the tale of one family's struggte to hide its past. 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