HOUSE RULES (Sarah Crane, The Buzz, August 2001): Inkerman, a grand house that used to be just off the North River Road in Charlottetown, has an enthralling story. Colonel John Hamilton Gray built it before the birth of Confederation in Charlottetown. When Nancy Beck spent her childhood summers there, Colonel Gray's ghost used to roam the halls. The Colonel haunted several generations of Beck's family. One of her great-great-grandfathers bought Inkerman after the Colonel's death. The grand house burned down in the seventies. But Beck remembers it today by sharing its story with audiences, through her one-man show, A Rowboat in the Attic.

It seems the few houses on the Island that have their own name are very grand or famous: Beaconsfield, Fanningbank, and even, (dare I mention?) Green Gables. When a house is given a name, it can develop a character unto itself, with its own history and story, almost capable of possessing a personality. This is true of Inkerman. Beck tells the story of "the big house" with care and fondness. Her own history revolves around the house. All of the people who lived in it lent some of their character to the building, to create a place swollen with stories and laughter.

Beck's show is casual and informal; at times it seems she is sitting across a kitchen table, talking about Inkerman, drinking from a coffee mug. But when she tells a story, she stands and becomes the many characters that inhabited Inkerman over the years. Her characters range from young children who are scared of the ghosts in the house, complete with big eyes and little voices, to her elderly grandmother. But it's the character of the house that is most eloquently made apparent. It is a place where parties draw people together and friends are always welcomed back.

Although Nancy Beck shows a great range of characters, it is her singing that really brings the house down. Her renditions of the 'party pieces,' sung at Inkerman 'shindigs' leave the audience roaring with laughter, and the sweet, simple song, "Will ye no come back again," is delightfully touching.

A ROWBOAT IN THE ATTIC A TINY THEATRICAL GEM (Audrey Gillis, The Charlottetown Guardian, October 22, 1999): Island actor and playwright Nancy Beck's one-person one-act play, A Rowboat in the Attic, chronicles the story of Inkerman House, built in the mid-1800s by Father of Confederation, Colonel John Hamilton Gray.

The house was the summer home of Beck's family for almost a century, and its history and that of its occupants provide rich source material for this touching, hilarious, and totally compelling piece of theatre. The play premiered during this year's Festival of the Fathers and is currently touring throughout P.E.I.

Simply staged and performed by Beck in a comfortable story-telling style, A Rowboat in the Attic focuses on the playfulness and humanity of the people who gave vibrant life to the old house.

We hear of the numerous off-the-wall tricks that relatives played on one another, including taking a horse upstairs in the middle of the night and putting toads in the beds of unsuspecting visitors. We learn of the wartime activities at Inkerman, where servicemen stationed on the Islander were welcomed and accepted into the family. Beck brings her audience to tears of sadness with her recounting of the final days of the house, and to tears of side-aching laughter with her imitations of the various "party pieces" performed at frequent Inkerman shindigs. Her performance of "Whispering Hope" is indescribably funny.

A Rowboat in the Attic captivates and enchants. In just under an hour, Beck manages to take us on a fascinating journey through the life of one Island home and one Island family, and in doing so, she sparks in us memories of our own childhoods and rekindles our own inherited stories of long-ago days. For young people, A Rowboat in the Attic is a wonderful glimpse inside a world of simple fun and self-made entertainment that is fast disappearing in this age of video games and satellite television. For those of us who are a little further on in years, the show gives us a chance to stop and reflect on the ordinary people and everyday events that make our own lives so rich and interesting.

After her performance of the play, Beck reveals an extensive photo display of Inkerman and its inhabitants. This visual addition complements and enhances an already delightful theatrical experience.

A ROWBOAT IN THE ATTIC IS A SHOW WORTH SEEING (Patricia Ballem, The Journal-Pioneer, October 15, 1999): Nancy Beck's tale of a historic home and all the wonderful people who lived there – and those who were lucky enough to attend the many gatherings at the big house – is a show not to miss.

The one-act play A Rowboat in the Attic will make audiences laugh, cry a little and wish that such a place as Inkerman House would have been part of one’s own childhood.

Beck’s story-telling talent takes the listener right ot the sights and sounds of those happy childhood days….

The house remained in Beck’s family for almost a century and her memories of all the wonderful times at the house at the end of the tree-lined avenue make for great entertainment, as do the many photographs of that enchanting place on display for the performance.

IN A WORD (Shauna McCabe, The Buzz, October 1999): The ability to give shape to the words imprinted in the memory, the silent and wonderful stories that lurk like ghosts in all of our biographies, is a fine craft. First you have to recognize them, and then you have to transform them.

September 3-5, actor and playwright Nancy Beck presented Rowboat in the Attic, her effort to capture and express the stories associated with the name Inkerman….

As writer and performer, Beck weaves together her experiences and inherited memories and legends of "The Big House" from over the century it belonged in her family until it burned down in 1980. Early in the performance, she explains the ttitle that came to her in a dream is a reference to the story of the rowboat said to have been kept by Gray in the attic ready for the tidal wave he believed imminent.

What gives Inkerman its powerful presence are such magical stories. Through them, the house and its grounds, and the lives of the characters who came and went from there, take shape. Beck adeptly evokes the humour, poignancy, and mystery that irrevocably marked her life and the lives of many others who have come into contact with the place…

Inkerman….Sometimes, a single word holds a story. Not impossible – there are prayers that are one word, and magic spells. Sometimes, these words are so familiar and intimate we don’t notice them. And then sometimes someone takes these fragments and reveals the rich ground beneath them.

PLAYS FOR DAYS (Hilary Prince, Voice for Island Seniors, December 1999): Recently we were delighted and moved by Nancy Beck’s story-telling performance in "A Rowboat in the Attic", a highly amusing story of Inkerman House, Colonel John Hamilton Gray (chairman of the 1864 conference) and the imaginative exploits of several generations of a wonderful cast of characters who lived in "The House"….

Nancy, a truly talented and experience actor, director, and playwright…makes history come alive as she draws for us lively "portraits" of Inkerman’s residents…The story of Inkerman is an exciting history lesson but it is mainly an account of the hilarious happenings initiated by family members who wove magic as they entertained their children and each other with picnics, plays, clam bakes, shindigs, and impromptu excitements such as "hauntings" which the children relished with delight….Nancy’s words evoked a time, long gone and before the electronic age, when life seemed simpler and more easily lived….

After the performance stay a while to see the fabulous collection of photographs of Inkerman and many of its former residents. It is a delightful way to spend an afternoon.