TANGLED GARDEN
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A new play by Bruce Gooch
Directed by Brenda Bazinet
Louise Meriweather works in home healthcare and follows her passion writing poetry with a group at the local community center. Barry Carson is a recovering alcoholic, military veteran and bricklayer trying to make himself better. Through Louise, Barry discovers poetry. Through Barry, Louise finds the courage to reach out to another person.
These contradictory, solitary lives collide and humorously weave together until Louise suffers a stroke. Barry is there for her. Dementia sets in after the stroke, destroying Louise’s treasured ability to write. Aware that the dementia is taking more and more of her away, Louise looks to Barry to her diminishing life.
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TORONTO, CANADA | NOVEMBER 2020
About the Production
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Tangled Garden resonates strongly with with the majority of theatre subscribers in their 50's onward and their adult children.
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It tackles the tough issues in our world today for an aging population of disassociation, isolation and end-of-life choice with humor and gentleness.
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Lynn Vogt and Bruce Gooch, as Louise and Barry bring over 80 years experience to Tangled Garden from Broadway to North American regional theatres to major roles in film and television.
Reviews from Athens
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"Tangled Garden, presented at a world premiere at The Machine Theatre in Athens, is charmingly, unexpectedly funny and surprising us continually with its small or bigger reversals. In the end, this emotional tale brings us to our feet with tears in our eyes."
Lila Papapaschou; www.theathinal.com
"A breakthrough. A theatrical story that convincingly conveys the collective unconscious of a world striving for better life. When the two characters, Barry and Louise meet, the explosion is inevitable and it turns out that life always awaits in the corner."
Leander Poulenaki; www.avgi.gr
Reviews from Athens
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"It was breathtaking. The pacing was perfect, the buildup to the heartbreak at the end both a shock and yet inevitable. And yet it was very gentle and uplifting."
Linda Matchan, Boston Globe
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“It comes as no surprise that with Tangled Garden, New Fangled Stages has significant dramatic range.”
Mr. Mark Allen, the Canadian Ambassador to Greece
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"Dear Bruce, I wanted to send a note to congratulate you on an incredibly moving performance of Tangled Garden yesterday, emotionally charged with just the right touch of humour and sensitivity. I am, indeed, still thinking about the production. Thank you so much."
Zoe Delibasis, Political and Public Affairs Office, Embassy of Canada to Greece
Audience Reviews
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“I watched a Greek man of fifty, with no English, approach the actors after the show. Tears in his eyes, he touched his heart and then the hearts of both actors. He spoke more eloquently for all of us that saw Tangled Garden than we could express with words.”
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“Gooch doesn’t pull punches in the way he handles dementia; with honesty, heartbreak and humor, he gives us the complicated truth that many of us will face.”
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“…it is the new cancer (dementia) that no one is speaking about. This play is an excellent step.”
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“I am bringing my whole family to see this. My grandmother has dementia.”
Book the Production
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Tangled Garden can play for one or two nights or several weeks and can be played in a theatre, library, community center or Legion Hall.
For bios, specific information and technical requirements on having Tangled Garden at your performance space, please contact Bruce Gooch at brucgooch@gmail.com or via our contact form.
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A script is available on request.