by Richard Young
(Pictured: Michelle Thrush, creator and performer, Inner Elder.)
To be sure, there is lots of great local theatre playing in the London area this weekend. Come From Away closes out its extended run at the Grand Theatre on Sunday, while London Community Players’ sold-out run of Mamma Mia! continues at the Palace Theatre, and the Elgin Theatre Guild’s final show of 2026/27, The Foursome by Norm Foster, has three performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Not to be overlooked, however, is Inner Elder, a real-life autobiographical one-person show, performed by Canadian actress and Cree Indigenous activist, Gemini Award-winning Michelle Thrush, on stage now at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre for three remaining performances, Friday at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm.
Premiering in 2018, Inner Elder is a structured monologue during which author Michelle Thrush recounts her personal life and experiences, combining pathos, hardships, and some good-natured laughs along the way.
I saw Inner Elder’s opening night on Thursday and can attest to the show’s poignancy and the tour de force performance of its author.
Running a tightly packed 60 minutes in length, Inner Elder takes the audience through Thrush’s life as a young child and teenager, “raising” two alcoholic parents and struggling to find her identity as a First Nations person in a predominantly white society. Looking for role models on television shows like Little House on the Prairie and Bewitched, she is disappointed to find no one who looks like her. Her public schooling offers her no respite, where Thrush experiences racism firsthand.
The pivotal point in Thrush’s life comes in her early 20s, when she decides to pursue acting as the best way to find her identity and assert herself as a “brown girl” in a white world. As she states during the play, she has never looked back.
Set within a simple set of impressionistic trees, Thrush transforms herself from a young girl into an elderly grandmother through the use of very basic props and costume changes. Indeed, it is her inner monologue that propels the story more than anything else.
The play brings tears of sorrow and laughter to the audience’s eyes as we share Thrush’s ups and downs. We share her inner jokes and asides, all the while knowing she is laying bare her soul onstage.
If you’re looking for something a little different, I highly recommend the short drive to catch Inner Elder during its short run at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre
IF YOU GO:
What: PSFT presents Inner Elder.
When: May 27-30, 2026.
Where: Port Stanley Festival Theatre, 302 Bridge St., Port Stanley, ON.
Tickets: At psft.ca or call the box office at 519-782-4353.
The Beat Magazine 2025 