Since the legalization of marijuana in 2018, terms like grow lights, hygrometers and grow tents are making their way into the mainstream. Because the plant was illegal for so long, a lot of grow info has been passed down by word of mouth. There are many myths and traditions about growing weed, so it can be hard to sort good, sound advice from hearsay. But thanks to the minds of writers Matt Murray, Collen Dauncey and Akiva Romer-Segal, theatre goers will get a chance to ponder how Amish teens might handle the task of growing weed.
The Grand Theatre’s latest original production GROW, which opens on April 19, follows Amish twins, Hannah and Ruth, as they leave the comfort of their sheltered community to explore the modern world for the first time. After arriving in Toronto, their plans quickly go up in smoke and they wind up crashing with a down-on-his-luck, illegal cannabis dealer. Their sisterhood is tested when the creation of the “world’s greatest weed” launches one of the twins to astronomical heights.
“One night I was watching the news and it was tailed with a puff piece about Amish teenagers going to an amusement park for the first time, and they said this word Rumspringa, which I had never heard before,” Murray told 519 Magazine about the shows creation. “I immediately googled and Rumspringa came up. Basically, it’s a time when Amish adolescents explore the modern world, in order to make an informed choice, whether or not they want to be baptized forever into the Amish church.”
Originally titled Rumspringa Break, GROW was written by Murray, a Sarnia playwright, and features songs composed by Toronto song-writing team Dauncey and Romer-Segal. The pair have written the scores to The Subway Songs, Scenes from the Bathhouse, and Bremen Rock City. They have also notably composed the music to The Louder We Get (formerly Prom Queen: The Musical), which was staged during the Grand’s 2018/2019 Season as its High School Project.
“I started to really get down to the… the roots (if you will)… and I was like, ‘What do Amish do really well?’” he wondered. “They’re wood workers, they’re great bakers and they’re really good at agriculture, so what if they grow wheat? These twin sisters go off into the modern world, to experience life, and will need to make an informed decision of whether or not they want to spend the rest of their existence as Amish or find themselves cultivating cannabis. And so that was really the that’s where it all came from.”
GROW was first developed through Sheridan College’s Canadian Music Theatre Project, where the Broadway smash hit Come From Away originated. It was further workshopped at the prestigious Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals in East Haddam, Connecticut.
“We, as individuals have the right to choose the life that makes us happy,” he explains. That can be that I choose to smoke some weed or I choose to live a queer existence; I choose to move 1,000 kilometers away from my family, because there’s something there that my heart is calling towards. What we were trying to convey with this story, and hopefully empowering individuals, is that, at the very, very least, everyone has the right to choose the life that makes them happy. Whatever that may be.”
A COMPASS New Play Development production, GROW was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Grand Theatre in April 2020 but was suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Determined to bring the compelling musical to its London audience, the Grand postponed the show to close its 2021/2022 season. Grow runs from April 19 to 30 at the Grand Theatre’s Spriet Stage. Tickets are $59.89 and are available online at grandtheatre.com.
