Governor General Award-winning playwright, actor, and educator Erin Shields is largely known for plays that centre the lives and stories of women. Often, they involve neglected historical figures who finally get a story and voice of their own.
For You, Always, which runs at Canadian Stage from January 31 to February 22, however, she’s taken on the relationship between two fictional sisters. It stars acclaimed actors Maev Beaty and Liisa Repo-Martell as Liz and Delia, two sisters who set off on a journey through a half century of memories and shared history after getting life-changing news.
The play was developed as part of Canadian Stage’s New Work Development Program, and will be directed by Nightwood Theatre Artistic Director Andrea Donaldson.
It’s a banner year for Shields, who will see her play Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, about the various Marys of the New Testament, take the stage at Crow’s Theatre in April, and Medusa at Soulpepper in June. In summer 2025, her Ransacking Troy was a hit at the Stratford Festival.
Erin Shields: The Interview
A story about sisters seems like a natural sort of subject to broach.. especially for someone with sisters of their own.
“I have three sisters, three younger sisters,” Shields says. She notes that being a sister, and mother to two daughters, is “an important and influential part of my life”.
When it comes to theatrical works, despite the commonality of the experience, there isn’t a lot of representation. “There aren’t a lot of narratives that really dive into that relationship,” she adds.
What is it about the relationship between sisters and siblings that makes it such fertile territory?
“I think there’s something very unique,” Erin says. “They are the carriers of knowledge of who you were as a child.” She points out that you share a unique perspective on that time period with your siblings, with your parents from a different generation and inhabiting an adult world. “They know who you were then,” she adds.
“It’s also a relationship that you can really take for granted.” Siblings can generally push and push back and forth, knowing the relationship will never be broken — although there certainly are exceptions.
“In my experience […] particularly with one of my sisters, as we got older, she could always say something that really get me into a rage.”
That trove of shared memories can ignite a wide range of emotions. “A memory is a trigger, and all of a sudden it’s like we’re eight year olds again. You can feel those emotions as rawly as you [did back then].”
Shields wanted to emphasize that sense of close proximity and shared history. “These characters, I placed them two years apart.”
What comes through in the story as it unfolds is how much they are linked together. “How crucial each of them is to the other’s identity.”
Erin’s mother and her own sister were part of the inspiration for the emotions of You Always. “It was always so funny when we get together for Christmas dinners,” she recalls. “They’d have this instant rhythm of how they act, so many similarities.”
Sibling relationships don’t necessarily need physical proximity to maintain themselves. “Another thing is that two of my sisters live on the West Coast, and we’ve had periods where we didn’t talk as much.” Big events and tragedies, like the one that serves as a catalyst in You Always, can bring everyone together abruptly. “Long periods of not being together can be erased in an instant.”
The Play
The narrative of the play unfolds entirely between the two sisters, but passes back and forth through time and space.
“One moment, let’s say a moment where they’re angry with each other, reminds them of a moment in the past, […] and they go there,” Shields explains. “What you get in this play, it’s not non-linear. It’s a constellation,” she continues. “It’s a constellation of memories that come into focus, and you gradually get to know these characters very well.”
Actors Maev Beaty and Liisa Repo-Martell have actually portrayed sisters on stage before. It’s just one of the network of ongoing relationships that underlie the production.
“I’ve worked with Maeve and the director Andrea for at least 20 years,” Shields says. Both, as she notes, have also previously worked with Liisa.
“We’ve been friends, almost sisters actually, since our 20s,” she says, “which has made rehearsing an absolute pleasure.”
The Toronto theatre community is tightly knit. “Professionally we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long,” Erin says. “It feels like the relationships that we’re crafting in the play [are] mirrored.”
That’s the crux of the play — the relationship.
“The plot so much in itself is not as important as the portrait. I think people that come to see the show can expect a really full journey.” It’s emotional, funny, and recognizable, she notes.
“It’s a really good show to see with your sister or your best friend. I think women in particular are really going to get this and dig it.” Good friends would also make good theatre companions. “It is something about female relationships in particular that [are] different than male relationships,” she says, citing the level of intimacy and care that’s common among girlfriends.
“It can really get to the core of who you are,” she says. “You can call each other out on your bullshit, and really celebrate each other when you are having successes in life.” She adds, “It’s an essential part of being human and being in community.”
- Find tickets and show details for the world premiere of You Always at Canadian Stage (January 31 to February 22) [HERE].
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