The beloved Mrs. Shalla will be remembered.
Tomorrow night, the Opeongo Readers’ Theatre will be presenting “The Life & Times of Mrs. Shalla”.
Director Barry Conway says that many people knew her as a teacher who taught in Madawaska Valley when she was older but says that her life went way beyond teaching. As the daughter of two Polish immigrants, Mary Kiedroski and John Etmanski, Elizabeth Shalla was born in 1890 and passed away in 1978.
Conway says he was her student in 1963, when he was in Grade 3, and knew her only as a great teacher. What really impresses him is the life she lived before giving him Polish lessons during lunch hour. He adds that the play will present readings from her memoir (which she started writing in the 1970’s) and it will dive into the early years of her life where culture and heritage are at the forefront.
As a former journalist, Conway knows a thing or two about writing and mentions that Shalla, could herself have worked for the Globe and Mail many times over. “It’s in the way she describes things, there’s real appreciation, it meant a lot to her to be part of this community” he says.
To add to the show, one of Mrs. Shalla’s grandchildren, Michael C. Glofcheskie, will host the show and perform readings. Conway says it will be emotionally exciting and shocking. The show starts at 7:00, tomorrow night, at the Opeongo Seniors Centre and admission is free.
If you cannot attend, the reading will be produced in podcast/audio form and be uploaded to the Opeongo Readers’ Theatre website 24 hours following the performance. For more information and to listen to previous performances put on by the Opeongo Readers’ Theatre, click here.