Pauline’s son travels overseas to fight for ISIS while Dan’s son joins the Canadian Forces. Desperate to understand, both parents set out on a journey to confront the fate of their sons. But as their paths draw them closer to each other, will they be ready for the answers that await them?
Inspired by actual events, Your Own Sons tells the story of two parents whose fates are intertwined by violence; one so-called ‘ISIS mother’ who has lost her son to radical Islamic terror and a father to a Canadian soldier obsessed with learning the truth of what his son encountered overseas. A new Canadian drama tackling the politics of faith and fear, and the collision between love and loss, Your Own Sons shines a light on an issue too often shrouded in ideology or hidden in taboo and asks: what would you do if this was your child?
Keywords: politics, ISIS, terrorism, military, drama, parents, sons, grief, remembrance, war
The other characters can be cast doubled according to the following breakdown: TYLER / DAVID (M), BRIAR / TABITHA (F), BEN / YUSUF (M), and HEATHER / CECILE (F).
The character of BEN / YUSUF requires a performer who is Middle Eastern.
"Near's plays can often have an undercurrent of terror, muted perhaps, but always there. It's the sort of thing that can grab you by the throat and shake your faith in the future. It comes from richly imagined theatre, from language that is frequently poetic and always elegant."
- Gary Smith, The Hamilton Spectator