Parallel Chords

The lifelong struggle between parents and children come to a head in Catherine Dudley-Rose’s Parallel Chords. As parents, we want our children to follow in our footsteps and reach, if not exceed, the very heights we reached ourselves. At the same time, as grown children, we want to become our own person and earn our parent’s approval.

Parallel Chords is the story of Jaqueline Archer (Rachel Ann), and her story is told in a series of flashbacks and done so effectively. Jaqueline is the daughter of famed pianist, Lawrence Archer (Bjorn Johnson) and between Jaqueline and her brother Damon (Ford Fanter), she was the lucky one to inherit her father’s musical talent as a violinist.

As a young child, she was proud of her father’s success but saw the exhaustive toll that years of piano and painkillers had on him. She would witness her father’s breakdown and berating of her brother for listening to rock music on a boombox. As Jaqueline grew older, she became a talented violinist in her own right. Seizing upon that talent, Lawrence began to push her toward excellence. Lawrence is a demanding teacher, accepting no less than perfection.

“…Lawrence began to push her toward excellence…a demanding teacher, accepting no less than perfection.”

Unbeknownst to Lawrence, Jaqueline has other passions, particularly in finding independence and simply growing up. Jaqueline wins a role in the school play. Desperate to hang with her fellow students, her late-night sneak out to a party, ends with disastrous results. But her father forbids these distractions and refuses to let her lose focus, and that brings us to this co-dependent story of parents and children.