In Waiting for the Parade five Calgary women respond very differently to civilian life during WW II, providing a portrait of Canadian society in the 40s: Catherine’s husband is overseas, and she copes by working in a canteen and socializing with another man; Margaret has one son overseas and one who joins the communist party, and she believes that both are lost to her;
Janet’s husband avoids active service by working for CBC radio, and she compensates by a display of bullying patriotism and volunteer work; Eve, a young school teacher, tries to keep her students from enlisting, and despises the militaristic posturing of her much older husband; Marta is a German immigrant whose father is interned as a spy.
One soon comes to realise how the dynamics and tensions between the women are a reflection of the war itself, and how different characters respond: some thrive and some recoil, how some find laughter and others only worry. It comes down to getting through, to surviving. As Marta says towards the end of the play, ‘So that’s how she manages to stay alive. I wonder if it would work for me.’”
The play is composed of vignettes often accompanied by music, much of it the music and dances popular in the 40s. The popular songs also underscore the ironies inherent in a country at war against another country from which many of its citizens and much of its culture have originated.
In his programme note for the Shaw Festival production, John Murrell expresses his belief that “women are the connective tissue which allows the human race to keep faith that normal life will ultimately return. Women remind us, with wit and resilience, of the great importance of family, and also that family is not everything; of the great importance of patriotism, and also that patriotism is not everything. Their pragmatism is utterly heroic.”