The (Post) Mistress

The (Post) Mistress is a musical play by Tomson Highway.[1] The play has also been staged in a French version titled Zesty Gopher s'est fait écraser par un frigo[2] and a Cree version titled Kisageetin,[3] although The (Post) Mistress, a predominantly English show which retains some French and Cree lyrics, is the most widely produced version.

Set in the 1960s, the show centres on Marie-Louise, a postmistress in the small Northern Ontario town of Lovely, on the rural outskirts of the larger city of Complexity.[2] She possesses the supernatural ability to read through sealed envelopes, thus serving as a keeper of the town's stories and secrets,[2] and the songs detail her revelations about life in the community.[3] The city of Complexity is based on the Ontario city of Sudbury,[2] while the town of Lovely is a pastiche of the city's suburban and outlying rural francophone communities such as Chelmsford, Azilda and Highway's own hometown of Noëlville.[2]

Most productions of the show to date have starred Sudbury musician and actress Patricia Cano in the lead role,[2][3] although some have also starred Pandora Topp[4] or Martha Irving.[5]

The play was published in book form by Talonbooks in 2013.[6] A soundtrack album, with Cano performing the songs, was released in 2014,[7] and garnered a Juno Award nomination for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015.[8]