The Grandkid (Paperback)
Julius Rothstein and his granddaughter Abby have loved each other from opposite ends of Canada since Abby was born. But now, accepted as a freshman student at the university where Julius teaches, Abby is moving in with him to be close to school and to keep her newly widowed grandfather company. The two must negotiate a new relationship as housemates and friends, which means dealing with issues of youth and age, work and play, activism and apathy, homework and heart attacks, and those three tricky topics: sex, politics, and religion. The Grandkid bridges the generation gap with wisdom, wit, and warmth. -- Mark Leiren-Young, winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour The Grandkid is undeniably charming in a Mordecai Richler sort of way. But John Lazarus is also witty and thoughtful and intelligent and he looks at the unique relationship between grandfather and granddaughter with tremendous honesty, generosity, and wry humour. -- Jo Ledingham The Grandkid is a superb play; it should be an annual Christmas classic in every Jewish theatre in the country. (Feel free to substitute Hanukkah for Christmas if you wish.) -- Wayne Grady, author of Emancipation Day The balance of power in this relationship -- who is more considerate? who is truly mature? -- shifts, but engages for anyone old or who is, or has been, young. -- Plays International
John Lazarus is an award-winning playwright who has been writing since 1970. Some of his many plays include Dreaming and Duelling, The Late Blumer, The Nightingale, Trouble on Dibble Street, and Village of Idiots. John taught writing for over a decade at Studio 58, and briefly at the Vancouver Film School and the National Theatre School. He lives with his wife in Kingston, Ontario, where he has been a professor in the Drama Department at Queen's University since 2000.