Buy Nothing: The Play!

It’s local, it’s funny, it’s about us!

By Cynthia Sugars

It is already becoming hard to recall the early days of COVID, back when we all crossed the street to avoid neighbours and kept up with the daily news reports of rising counts in Canada and abroad. But for a lot of us, the isolation of the lockdown was balanced by a paradoxical sense of community that was as heartfelt as it was tenuous, banging pots and pans to celebrate the heroic efforts of front-line workers, finding ways to help others on the block, and even learning to use Zoom. Being neighbourly was still possible, it just took some imagination!

And now, there is the play! A lighthearted comedy about how the local “Buy Nothing” group fostered just this sense of community at a time when we needed it most. Written and directed by Cynthia Sugars, Buy Nothing: The Play! offers a comic look at the antics and foibles of local “buy nothingers,” doing secret drop-offs by night, posting photos of bananas, providing mutual donations of flour when supplies were in demand. Buy Nothing: The Play! follows the comic adventures of Tracy and Jim, their two daughters, and several of their neighbours as Tracy’s interest in the local Buy Nothing group launches her family on a journey of discovery and belonging that is about far more than the stuff being swapped. Tracy is invigorated by it all: “I have found my people!” But her husband Jim is less sure, as he is dragged along on Tracy’s do-good missions. Filled with laughs, music and all-round good humour, this play will warm your heart, as we watch our characters become part of something bigger than they could have imagined.

Cynthia Sugars is one of the people behind The Company of Adventurers in Old Ottawa South.

Shows are at the Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Club (176 Cameron Avenue) in Old Ottawa South. One weekend only!

Don’t miss it!

Friday, October 21st – 7 p.m.
Saturday, October 22nd – 2 and 7 p.m.
Sunday, October 23rd – 2 p.m.

Tickets: $20 regular, $10 seniors,
$5 students, on Eventbrite

(google “Eventbrite buy nothing play”):
www.eventbrite.ca/e/429251481737

Contact Cynthia at csugars@uottawa.ca
for more info!

Share this