The (Post) Mistress

The (Post) Mistress is a play written by Canadian playwright Tomson Highway. It is a one-woman show, typically performed by a female actor, and is structured as a series of letters read aloud by the protagonist, Marie-Louise. Marie-Louise is the postmistress in the small, remote Northern Ontario town of Lovely. Through her letters, the audience learns about the lives and loves of the town's inhabitants, primarily members of the Cree community. The play explores themes of identity, language, sexuality, and the challenges and joys of life in a close-knit, isolated community. The letters are addressed to a variety of recipients, including Eaton's (a Canadian department store), and the Queen, offering a blend of the mundane and the profound. It is often considered a companion piece to Highway's earlier play, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. The play is noted for its use of language, particularly the interweaving of Cree and English.