Just in Time for Swamp Season: The Mosquitos
Marya Folinsbee served the West Kootenays some much-needed art for dinner.
POV: you live near a swamp and the local people are said to be transforming into mosquitos. What do you do upon hearing this? Do you accept the facts? Do you scramble to make a “life well-lived”? Do you deny that it is happening at all?
An audition notice came to my email in February 2025 while I was on a social media hiatus.
It read:
“Material Theatre is casting for the first production of a new full-length play, The Mosquitos, by Marya Folinsbee”
*Brain explode-y moment*
A play?!
By Marya!
And it was happening within Nelson. I obviously wasted no time booking my audition.
Weeks later, I was cast as Sarah - a despairing writer searching for meaning and coming up with nothing.
The synopsis goes as follows:
“Things are changing rather quickly. We no longer share a reality”.
A group of old friends get together for a dinner party, while rumours of an unimaginable change swirl around them. How will they face total transformation?
I think the most important thing to say about The Mosquitos, which I've been repeating to everyone around me since I first read the script, is that it is really, really good.
What makes it so?
It is "of the moment". It comes right off the heels of COVID with the social clashes that arose - even between long-time friends and family. The ever-polarizing personal politics that followed are instantly familiar.
Photos by Lisa Johnson & Makala Burjaw It is unique. It has a distinct set of characters: the excitable defender of the oppressed, the "yes dear" thought-avoidant wife, the pretentious critic, the crass facebook dad who definitely isn't "a sheep", to name a few. Marrying these modern stock personalities with the impending animal/swamp takeover makes for something unforgettable.
It's smart. Marya injected layers of genius into the script. Being an absurdist play (strongly inspired by - and in conversation with - Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros), it is not only social commentary but also deeply existential.
Yet, there's no required reading to ensure you'll giggle and gasp in each scene.It has the swamp. Celebrating all forms of life, and referencing local ecology, the wetland environment is sure to enchant you. In times of anxiety and dread, quotes from The Mosquitos are an antidote (eg. “Would it be life without suffering, and causing suffering?”).
Transform. It's not only for locals. There is Kootenay inspiration, but this show could be staged and enjoyed anywhere in the world.
We’re low on straight plays1 in this region, especially originals. The Mosquitos is an oasis in sandy, yet arable terrain. Marya crafted peak art that hits perfectly in an era of (rapidly) accelerating cultural turnover.
I had the fortune of partnering with Lindsay Clague, a renowned local actor and Highly Respectable Woman. It was a pleasure to work alongside her. She played Sarah's wife Jane, a Highly Respectable Artist. You could describe their relationship status as "it's complicated".
My friend and frequent collaborator Emily Ryan played the anxious party host Marie, opposite her husband Thom - a fact-obsessed journalist played by Kozmo Sammartino. They brought the timeless, vintage hetero couple to life in a way that was truly transformative.
In total, our cast was a motley crew with actors across the spectrum of experience.
We opened The Mosquitos with a rustic preview at the Vallican Whole (a 75-ish capacity woodsy cabin) on June 7th.
The following weekend, we re-opened for two shows at Nelson's Capitol Theatre on June 12th and 13th.
If you saw the Mosquitos or participated in the production and want to share your thoughts and feedback, please get in touch!
I’d love to include some community quotes in a follow-up note.
- K <3
straight play def. Noun [edit]
straight play (plural straight plays)
(theater) A play relying on spoken dialogue to tell the story, in contrast to a musical
Marya Folinsbee - playwright, director, and more.
