This past Saturday I visited The Mill for the first time. The experience was simultaneously terrifying, glorious, and heart breaking. Written by Damien Atkins and directed by Vikki Anderson, Part 4: Ash is the fourth and final installment of Theatrefront’s ambitious project. Conceived by Daryl Cloran and Matthew MacFadzean, The Mill, is a quartet of plays, written and directed by four different playwrights and four different directors, and starring the same ensemble of actors.

Spanning over two hundred years, all four plays are set in the small Canadian town of Brody, and follow the lives of its inhabitants.

Ash is a ghost story, a story about family and the end of the world. The show takes risks, both in form and content. The writing is spacious, allowing the tight and talented ensemble cast to gracefully inhabit the world of The Mill. The set, designed by Gillian Gallow, is simple and effective and Andrea Lundy’s lighting design is hauntingly beautiful. Ben Chiasson’s projections are, for the most part, compelling albeit slightly unnecessary.

The Mill is an exciting and important project, both artistically and historically. The work speaks to the future of Canadian theatre: a future of bold intention and seismic collaboration.

All four parts of The Mill are playing in repertory at the Young Centre, 98 Coady Avenue near Dundas and Jones in Leslieville until January 29th.

~ Joanna Caplan