The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Starring Karen Johnson-Diamond
Directed by Jason Mehmel

“A difficult subject treated with as much warmth as insight.” “…it is the insights into grief that are funneled by these two women that make the evening so powerful, memorable and uplifting.”
Louis B. Hobson, Calgary Herald

The Year of Magical Thinking is novelist Joan Didion’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated account of the year following the death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, and her attempts to make sense of her grief while tending to the severe illness of her adopted daughter. Didion’s brave report from the edge of grief is movingly and honestly expressed by award-winning actor Karen Johnson-Diamond. Johnson-Diamond was nominated for a 2019 Betty Mitchell (Calgary Theatre) Award for her stellar performance in Sage Theatre’s premiere run in September 2018.

Length: 87 minutes with no intermission.
Touring Company: 1 artist and 1 crew

“This play is an incredible journey into the road of grief and one of the best written plays I have experienced (I had only read it before), and this production is starkly simple, honest, and full or revelations in an intimate setting with an extraordinary actress.” Playwright Crystal Skillman

Sage Theatre takes audiences on bold, intimate and thoughtful journeys exploring the human condition, featuring talented Albertan artists. Currently led by Artistic Director Jason Mehmel, the innovative Calgary theatre company was founded in 1998 under the leadership of Rob Moffat. Its production highlights include the Canadian premiere of My Name is Rachel Corrie in 2007, the world premiere of Meg Braem’s Blood: A Scientific Romance in 2011, the world premiere of Legislating Love: The Everett Klippert Story in 2018, and many award-winning plays. In 2005, Sage Theatre founded the Ignite! Festival for Emerging Artists.

Home Base: Alberta