A Paisley Mind

A Paisley Mind was first conceived in 2019 during Gabrielle Banville’s time at Concordia University’s Acting for the Theatre program. Initially a ten-minute piece, it was the first time Gabrielle had ever written a piece of theatre. The initial performance of A Paisley Mind was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, Gabrielle continued to work on the piece, wanting to make it a full-length show.

In 2021, Gabrielle was successfully accepted into Concordia’s Art Volt program, an initiative that pairs up alumnus from Concordia’s Fine Arts programs with mentors in those respective artistic fields. Gabrielle was mentored by Emma Tibaldo, director and dramaturg, co-founder of Talisman Theatre and previous artistic and executive director of Playwright’s Workshop Montréal. During her year of mentorship with Emma, Gabrielle continued to work on A Paisley Mind with the hope of performing it on a Montréal stage in the near future.

In 2022, Gabrielle submitted A Paisley Mind to the 2022 Montréal Fringe Festival, and was successfully selected in the lottery. It was performed at Mainline Theatre, and became Half Twin Theatre’s inaugural show.

‘After a birthday phone call with her son, 85-year-old Marie-Claire takes us through her fading past and her rapidly changing present. A gripping bilingual solo show, Marie-Claire’s journey with dementia makes us wonder which memories will stay with us as we age, and which ones will fade.’

A portion of ticket sales from the production were donated to the Société Alzheimer de Montréal, an organization that alleviates the social and personal consequences of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders through the development and delivery of leading-edge intervention, care and support services in Montréal.