Late night, on a lonely Huron County road, fifteen-year-old Eloise Bernhardt has an extraordinary encounter that changes her life forever… This is a story of a mother and her teenaged daughter who have lost their way, and how they are fighting their way back to loving each other. It’s a story that questions what we believe in, examines how we judge each other, and asks: “What is out there, beyond the stars?” Eloise and her mother, Glen are struggling mightily with the recent death of the man who was both husband and father. Problems escalate for mother and daughter alike when Eloise returns home late one night after a gravel-pit party with some high school friends. Shaken and dishevelled, she tells her mother she saw “a big glowing light hovering above the ground” that momentarily took possession of her. Eloise’s improbable tale makes headlines in the local newspaper after a reporter talks to her under false pretences. What follows, for Eloise and her mother–and for their whole community–is funny, touching, and inspiring.
News & Reviews
“Cooper’s lovely homage to a place very much like Blyth is about many things. It’s about family and community, about fitting in and feeling alone, about finding one’s own path amid the rocks and boulders of life. It’s about life and death and the circle of love that connects both, here and now and forever. It’s about belief and faith, imagination and vision and the limits of reason, logic and rationality to explain the joyous wonders of life. Finally, it’s about the mystery that envelops all of creation which, in moments of fleeting vision, we touch but cannot grasp.” —The Kitchener Record
About the Author
Beverley Cooper is a writer, teacher, and actor. Her plays include: Clue in the Fast Lane (with Ann-Marie MacDonald); Thin Ice (with Banuta Rubess, Chalmers/Dora Award); The Eyes of Heaven; The Woman in White (from the novel by Wilkie Collins); The Lonely Diner: Al Capone in Euphemia Township; Janet Wilson Meets the Queen (nominated for Prix Rideau Award) and If Truth Be Told. Innocence Lost: A Play about Steven Truscott was a finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award and was on the Globe and Mail bestsellers list, a first for a Canadian playwright. She has also written for television, film, and extensively for CBC Radio Drama. Beverley is the coordinator of PGC’s The CASA Project, which aims to support women playwrights living in South Africa.
