Photo of Bea Pizano and company in Four Sisters by Bernie Fournier
Spanning over 500 years, Susanna Fournier‘s Empire Trilogy is bold and ambitious, conjuring a richly rendered and compelling world. It is our own world, of course, though distorted, existing across time rather than in it. Set in an alternate universe, this near-future dystopia blends the medieval and contemporary.
I didn’t catch the run of either of the first two parts—The Philosopher’s Wife and The Scavenger’s Daughter—though I have listened to the podcast presentations of both (available on The Empire website). I was fortunate, however, to catch this final instalment at The Theatre Centre. Commissioned by Luminato 2019 and presented by Paradigm Productions, Four Sisters concludes Fournier’s epic examination of oppressive power structures and the ways in which they devalue and exploit people.