The Royal Manitoba Theater Centre’s production of Armstrong’s War opened its regional tour on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 28, playing to a large crowd assembled in Snow Lake’s Lawrie Marsh Hall.
Locally sponsored by the Aurora Borealis Arts Council and Hudbay, the play tells the story of Cpl. Michael Armstrong, who is recuperating in a rehab hospital when he becomes an unwilling participant in a young wheelchair bound Girl Guide’s quest to earn her Community Service badge.
Halley Armstrong is determined to read to him and he is equally determined she won’t. Nonetheless, reciprocal reading begins and through it the two develop a friendship strong enough that the corporal feels able to share his haunting war service, and Halley responds with her own troubling background.
They eventually help each other to come to terms with their pasts, tearing each other down then slowly building one another back up again in a fine tale of hope, courage, and mercy.
At the close of the final act, the audience rose and showed their collective appreciation for this exceptional story and the wondrous way in which it was portrayed.
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