The Ones We Leave Behind At The Cultch Until November 3, 2018

We had the pleasure of taking in opening night of the production The Ones We Leave Behind at The Cultch.  This is a multi-layered play created by Loretta Seto and presented by the Vancouver Canadian Asian Theatre. The subject matter being an elderly woman who dies alone with no one to claim her body makes one think about social isolation and the part it plays in our community, but then we ourselves can also play a part in that social isolation.

The Ones We Leave Behind features an investigator for the Public Trustee, Abby Chung, who has been assigned her first case. She is working with an experienced and hardened investigator 30 years on the job.  Abby’s first assignment is locating the next-of-kin for an elderly woman named Beatrice, who has died without any family or friends to claim her. As Abby uncovers more details of Beatrice’s lonely life, she is confronted by her own demons and is forced to face issues in her own life.  The Ones We Leave Behind poses the question, are the greatest walls the ones we build within ourselves?

What we didn’t expect in this production, is the laughs. The relationship between Abby and her mother are honestly quite priceless. As one with a mother that aspires to the direct approach, their relationship was very relatable.  The production touches on many issues abandonment, social expectations including those we place on ourselves.  A lot gets packed into this production which features an excellent cast.  We recommend taking some time out to see The Ones We Leave Behind on now at The Cultch until November 3rd. Tickets are available online from $24.00 at The Cultch.

“I am so grateful to Loretta, who’s written such a gorgeous, multi-layered piece, and shared an immigrant story, and a Chinese immigrant story…The relationship between Abby and her mother is like a mirror of my relationship with my mother, who is an immigrant to Canada, and the language barrier, the cultural barrier, and a generational gap within that. There are quite a lot of differences for each of us to navigate” – Agnes Tong, who plays Abby Chung in The Ones We Leave Behind, in conversations with The Vancouver Sun

Photo Credit: Ray Shum

Tags: Abandonment, East Vancouver, Loretta Seto, Social Isolation, The Cultch, The Ones We Leave Behind, Theatre, Vancouver Canadian Asian Theatre