After countless hours of preparation, the Saskatoon Summer Players will be presenting their most recent project, a modern musical based off the real-life experiences of American graphic novelist, Alison Bechdel.

‘Fun Home’ will be presented at the Broadway Theatre on November 6th through 10th. Director Liz Whitbread says the musical is about “queerness and finding your queer identity, specifically Alison Bechdel coming into her lesbian identity when she was in college, and also realizing that her dad was a closeted gay man for his entire life.” Bechdel only found out shortly before he died.

Whitbread adds that the provincial government’s stance on queer and trans children is what fueled her decision to pitch the idea to the SSP.

“I think the power of putting queer stories, lesbian stories, gay stories, trans stories on stage for an audience in this province feels essential right now.”

She says even if you don’t identify with the queer themes in the production, everyone will appreciate the play’s humour, music and overall message.

“I hope the audience leaves with the message that being your authentic self is freeing, and we can heal from the things in our past that we are able to confront.”

Tickets are available at saskatoonsummerplayers.ca.