Created by Gita Bezard

Director: Adam Mitchell

When Em returns to her small hometown to care for her dying father, the claustrophobic nosy neighbourhood remind her why she left in the first place. Everyone knows everyone’s business, and no one has forgotten, or forgiven her. Fresh out of high school, she released a song, Better than You, a scathing and cringeworthy early 2000’s anthem, that the town took as a direct insult.

Now, as she reconnects with old friends and old wounds reopen, she finds herself caught up in an unexpected scheme—one that turns out to be far more otherworldly than she ever imagined. As she grapples with the weight of her father’s impending death, she reflects on her understanding of the universe and her place in it. SUPERNOVA combines magic realism with autobiography into a touching and funny musical about one person navigating what it means to be a speck in this vast cosmos.

A note from the Writer, Gita Bezard:

My dad was a brilliant person who left school at fourteen, learned English as an adult and was the most curious and intelligent person that I have ever know.

By day he worked as a chimney sweep (yes, for real) and by night, he was an insatiable reader and researcher, for his own personal satisfaction. His bookshelf was filled with books on philosophy, religion, history, astrophysics. When I lost him last year, I was drawn to the things he loved, and I found comfort in exploring the inner workings of the universe. I want to create a show for him. That is infused with his curiosity about the world and his pursuit of knowledge, combined with my love and pain. It’s a fictional story, but it draws on my experience and is filled with the essence of our relationship.

Death is such a universal experience, but we have become so removed from it. We have so many more answers about the world we live in now, but somehow that hasn’t made us any better at mourning or understanding death.

When we are not religious, what do we have to help us navigate this path? For me, the answer lies in having a deeper (ok, still basic) understanding of what becomes of us once we are scattered to the wind, the conservation of mass and energy. I find it very comforting, and I wanted to explore that in my work, in a way that is deeply personal but also funny and magical and accessible.