Pearls

In the pages of Pearls, Tracy Crisp entwines the pull of grief, the push of creative ambition, the messiness of family and friendships, and the many possible versions of ourselves.

Tracy’s father has just died, and she’s helping to clear out her childhood home in Port Pirie. But she still cannot find the pearls – her mother’s pearls, lost ever since her mother died in a car accident, not long after Tracy wore the pearls for her own wedding.

Followed by grief, Tracy moves with her young family to a dislocating new home in another country and back again. She sees her boys morph into adults, her beloved grandfather lose his memory, and her friends fall into their second acts through their stitch and bitch group chat. All the while, Tracy is pulled back to consider her mother’s restlessness and hopes, and what other iterations of life she herself could be living.

Originally performed as a series of award-winning coming-of-middle-age ‘memoir monologues’, Pearls is a lyrically written, beautifully moving, sharply funny and endlessly relatable tapestry of human experience. 

Author Biography

Tracy Crisp is a writer, performer and funeral celebrant who travels widely but always loves to come home. She has published novels, essays and short stories. Most recently she performed all six of her ‘memoir monologues’ in one big sell-out season at the Adelaide Fringe, winning several awards including a best theatre award, Spirit of the Fringe, and the Frank Ford Award.