‘The Piano Teacher’ Strikes a Chord with Audiences
In times of tragedy, music can be a source of comfort, which makes it all the more painful when grief stifles the melody. In my experience as a musician, heartbreak often makes it impossible to create those sounds which once brought comfort; your hands feel like weights hovering over piano keys, your voice feels trapped in the back of your throat, and the music you depended on is buried by emotions. An exploration of all this and more, Thousand Islands Playhouse closes out its 2025 season with the 2022 Governor General’s Award-winning play, The Piano Teacher, written by Dorothy Dittrich and directed by Evalyn Parry.
Erin (Elisa Moolecherry), a renowned concert pianist, has been unable to play following the tragic loss of her husband and son two years prior. After attending a piano recital for a friend’s daughter, she enlists the help of the teacher who put on the recital, Elaine (Karin Randoja), to help her sit back down at the piano and learn to play once more. The story follows the duo over the course of the seasons, from autumn, through winter, to spring, as Erin gradually confronts her grief. Her journey is helped along by Tom (Brandon McGibbon), a contractor who initially helps with a renovation in her home, but whose growing relationship with Erin over the course of the play is ultimately instrumental in her ability to move past her grief.
Randoja brings a sense of warmth to Elaine, reminding me of the comforting atmosphere I encountered each time I walked through the door of my childhood piano teacher’s home for a lesson. This familiarity works in favour of the entire production, as her approach is inviting not only to the audience, whom she directly addresses throughout the play, but to Erin, whose icy exterior begins to melt as she spends more time with the easy-going teacher.
Randoja navigates Elaine’s fourth-wall breaks, humorous bits, and tender moments beautifully, but there was a forgotten prop and a couple moments of line uncertainty during the performance. I would attribute these small mistakes to opening night jitters—which are somewhat excusable, as she spends most of the show on stage—and I want to add that these instances were handled with precision, including an in-character adlib that added naturally to the scene and garnered laughs from the audience. These moments of humanity are the joys of live theatre; we pick back up and keep going.
Moolecherry, likewise, is excellent as Erin, with physicality choices and line interpretations throughout that are immensely natural expressions of grief. In particular, her emotional monologue at the end of act two is a devastating release of the character’s feelings, moving me—and certainly other audience members, as well—to tears. Her chemistry with McGibbon is endearing, and the two share a few comedic moments early on that provide a charming foundation for their relationship.
McGibbon’s Tom brings light into Erin’s life, both literally and figuratively, yet never overshadows the effort Erin puts into working on herself. He is grounded and shines in the more day-to-day interactions with Moolecherry’s Erin, as well as in the scenes with heightened emotions. His casual delivery of the dialogue makes the character feel like a fully-shaped person beyond the world of the play, and the sincerity he brings to each movement and every line compels audiences to not only root for his character, but for the relationship blossoming between him and Erin.
Moolecherry and Randoja are a sweet pairing, and their contrasts in appearance and character choices make them perfectly suited to one another. Some of their loveliest moments together onstage occur when Erin and Elaine progress further into their lessons, and they begin to play piano live for the audience. This is aided by Richard Feren’s sound design, as the moments spent playing piano frequently fade from live performance into recorded music that fills the theatre. This allows characters to play live with support from tracks once they move away from the piano, or as they perform particularly tricky passages that require some support from the sound team.
Jawon Kang’s set and costume design work in tandem to uplift each other. The set is simplistic and modern, yet uses colour and texture beautifully to display the divide between Elaine and Erin—warm and cold, lived-in and pristine, each subtly representing the emotions of both women. Kang’s costumes further emphasize this visual story; as Erin makes progress in her lessons towards confronting her grief, audiences watch her colour palette shift towards lighter tones, opening herself back up again after loss. The lighting (Za Hughes) helps separate Erin and Elaine’s homes within the set, while also allowing the shared set space to grow into each character’s homes as needed. I especially loved the small details of the production design, like the deeper orange on some of the leaves on a section of the wallpaper, which was an almost perfect match for Elaine’s shirt, and how the window Tom creates is incorporated into the set— which you’ll just have to see for yourself to watch it come to life.
The Piano Teacher is sincere, heart-wrenching, and a testament to the power of art; another stunning piece of Canadian theatre that should not be missed, and a perfect send off to Thousand Islands Playhouse’s 2025 season.
‘The Piano Teacher’ is presented by Thousand Islands Playhouse, and will be playing at the Firehall Theatre until November 2nd, 2025. Tickets and more information can be found here.
