Tommy, a 12 year old first-generation Canadian of Indian descent, struggles with his identity. The story focuses on 3 generations of men in the same family (Tommy, his father & uncle and his grandfather) all of whom have lost the women they love and are learning to cope with their devastations. Tommy’s father and grandfather each struggle to cope with the loss of their wife; as Tommy’s uncle is trying to deal with the reality that the women in his life are leaving him--- his daughter getting married and his wife leaving him for another man; while Tommy has to say goodbye to his cousin who is getting married. The play moves back and forth between Tommy’s summer visit to Kochi (South India) and 1975 Christmas in Canada.
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2003 CanStage, Toronto
2011
Theatre Communications Group
9781559363631
Included in Version 3.0, Contemporary Asian American Plays.
Included in Version 3.0, Contemporary Asian American Plays.
Realistic
Clad in mid-century lingerie reminiscent of architecture as much as erotica, Dempsey recounts the mysteries, discomforts and delights found in the taboo subject of childhood sexuality. These stories tell tales of growing up lesbian: the allure of sleepovers; the frisson of “unmentionables” in the Eaton’s catalogue; the uncertain world from ages five to fifteen, marked by equal parts wonder and confusion. -- artist website
Stylized
Addicted follows Penelope Day, an alcoholic at the end of her rope who finds herself at the mercy of Saving Grace, an unconventional rehab facility and its motley crew of residents. While in treatment, Penelope comes face to face with her inner demons, revealing the ugly truth about her family’s destructive past. Penelope is left to question what is real, what is not, and if in fact she will survive
