Waiting for the Parade is John Murrell’s play, set in Calgary during World War II, in which five women gather to work for the war effort while their men are away. Waiting for the Parade was first performed by Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary. Subsequently, it has been performed by Northern Light Theatre, Edmonton; Bastion Theatre, Victoria; Tarragon Theatre, Toronto; the National Art Centre, Ottawa; Centaur Theatre, Montreal; and at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London, England.

John Murrell is one of the most frequently produced Canadian playwrights. His plays have been translated into fifteen different languages and performed internationally. His work for the stage includes Waiting for the Parade, a Canadian classic; Memoir, which has been produced world-wide; Chalmers Best Canadian Play Award winners Farther West and The Faraway Nearby; and the libretto for the acclaimed opera Filumena. As a translator, he has created frequently revived versions of Chekhovâ??s Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, and The Cherry Orchard; Ibsenâ??s The Doll House; Rostandâ??s Cyrano de Bergerac; and The Four Lives of Marie, Elisaâ??s Skin, and Seven Days in the Life of Simon Labrosse, all by Carole Fréchette.

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• Winner, Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award

“Waiting for the Parade demonstrates the old theatrical law that a play that is local, detailed and specific often has the capacity to reach out beyond its immediate environment. Set in Calgary, Alberta, Waiting for the Parade deals with the way five women coped with the pressures of World War II. Geographically, the conflict may have been remote, but it still impinged on individual lives. Waiting for the Parade is an honest play that captures precisely the texture of ordinary hopes and despairs.”
— The Guardian

"An honest appraisal and speaks directly to the heart. … In short, this is a parade of talent worth seeing. ” – St. Albert Gazettez

“…subdued and definitely reflective. It’s told not from the male point of view, but from the women left behind to raise children, keep factories operational, and bolster young solders as they leave for the killing fields. … an honest appraisal and speaks directly to the heart. … In short, this is a parade of talent worth seeing. ” – St. Albert Gazette