Crackie

When: 9:00 pm Friday, April 9, 2010
Where: Mainstage Theater, HCC Performing Arts Building
Who: Directed by Sherry White, Produced by Jennice Ripley and Rhonda Buckley
Tickets: $10

Mitsy and Sparky, the adopted dog

"Crackie" is the story of Mitsy, seventeen, who lives in a ramshackle house in a small town, with her grandmother, Bride, who has raised her since she was four. Bride spends her days scrounging in the local dump and her nights entertaining men in her bedroom.

Mitsy is accepted as a student at the local college, studying hair design. Her harsh-tongued grandmother is secretly proud of her. She wants Mitsy to elevate her life. She has no idea that Mitsy secretly plans to move to Alberta to live with her real mother, Gwennie, after graduating.

Mitsy has a crush on smooth talking Duffy, who convinces her to adopt his old ratty mutt. Mitsy hopes the pathetic dog is a quick answer to her lonely prayers. She looks for stability in her new responsibility as a dog owner.

But when Gwennie shows up unexpectedly and stirs up trouble, Mitsy's world starts to unravel. She must decide whether the woman who raised her is her enemy, or her strongest ally.

"Full of evocative moments"

"Sherry White's feature directorial debut is a delicate balancing act, a sharply observed character study of two women who struggle to do their best despite being handed a pretty rotten lot in life.

"Greeley is a revelation as Mitsy, turning in a performance so sympathetic it is often heart-wrenching to behold. And as her grandmother, Mary Walsh offers us yet another multi-dimensional character, proving she can deliver much more than the comedy that made her famous.

"Mitsy's story is never sentimentalized, and while the times are indeed as harsh as one can imagine, White offers us some cautious optimism as well. Crackie is a refined film, full of evocative moments and raw human emotion."
- Matthew Hays, Toronto International Film Festival