Recent & New Work in Progress...
"Whistling at the Northern Lights"
“A
sophisticated psychological thriller” – Canada-Germany Theatre
Project. In 2007, WHISTLING AT THE NORTHERN
LIGHTS, was selected as one of five Canadian plays to be promoted throughout
Germany as part of a Canadian theatre export program organized by the Canadian
Embassy in Berlin. In 2006, it was selected for Saskatchewan Playwrights'
Centre's Spring
Festival of New Plays. An earlier version of the script was shortlisted
for the national On the Verge 05 festival as well as for Nightwood
Theatre's Groundswell Festival of New Work by Women. This play was
also previously workshopped under the title, MEMENTO MORI, at the University
of Alberta in January - February 2004 with director Brenda Finley.
Synopsis:
Caitlin and her mother Marilyn are locked in a profoundly disturbed relationship
based on a lifetime of secrets and lies. But, in this highly charged and ever-shifting
drama, determining where the truth lies is a complex and sometimes dangerous
task. Enter Martin, a young
Inuk filmmaker with secrets of his own, who brings with him an age-old legend
of the northern lights. Threatening danger, even while offering the possibility
of transcendence, the northern lights just may hold the power to transform
each of their lives forever.
WHISTLING AT THE NORTHERN LIGHTS is a drama of blood and passion – about love, hate and the tragic consequences of betraying trust.
Cast: 3 (two women,
one Aboriginal man)
Production History:
WHISTLING AT THE NORTHERN LIGHTS premiered at the Saskatchewan Playwrights'
Centre (SPC) Spring Festival of New Plays in May 2006. (Directed
by Susan Ferley with Angela Christie as Caitlin, Cynthia Dyck as Marilyn,
and Lorne Duquette as Martin). Previous draft also workshopped with SPC Dramaturge
Ben Henderson in April 2004 the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre in April 2004.
It was also shortlisted for the On
the Verge 05 festival as well as for Nightwood Theatre's 2005 Groundswell
Festival of New Work by Women. The play was also
workshopped with series of staged public readings under the title “MEMENTO
MORI” at the University of Alberta in January & February 2004. Director:
Brenda Finley (MFA Supervisor: Kim McCaw) with Caroline Livingstone (Marilyn),
Tiffani Mann (Caitlin), and Sheldon Elter (Martin).
"Peaches and Cream"
PEACHES
AND CREAM is a warm, witty comedy about two young women and how their lives
changed one summer night in the Sixties not long after one of their mothers
discovered Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. A comedy with heart,
PEACHES AND CREAM offers a unique and imaginative look at the bonds of friendship
and love, the fallibility of memory, and the power of hope to change the future.
It was featured at the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre 2005 Spring Festival
of New Plays.
PEACHES AND CREAM is a heart-warming and funny exploration of fateful choices,
love and friendship, the rising tide of feminism, and the pure joy of "girl
power."
Synopsis:
PEACHES AND CREAM unfolds on a summer night in Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle
Valley in 1963. Or does it? When Josie McClung receives a letter from the
long lost Lois Kisby, she's returned to that fateful
summer night through the fallible lens of memory and finds herself once again
vying for the coveted Peaches and Cream Cotillion prize money that has the
potential to open an entirely new door on her future. But, with the prodding
of her friends from the past, Josie finds herself imagining the future that
might have unfolded had she made a different choice on that long
ago summer night. N.A.S.A.
lunar landings in mini-skirts? Betty Friedan on the moon?
In this altered version of the "future," Josie confronts not only
what could have been, she discovers how to beat the fears that have held her
back -- and discovers that sometimes, when the moon is just right, it is possible
to revisit the past and let love change the future.
Cast: 6 (9 if double-casting is not used) 4 women (2 in their early 20s, 2 in their mid-40s); 2 men (2 in their mid-20s, 3 in their mid-40s)
Production History:
PEACHES AND CREAM
was workshopped at the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre’s 2005 Spring
Festival of New Plays with director/dramaturge Rachel Ditor and the following
cast: Josie – Angela Christie; Lois – Amy Matysio; Mrs. Kisby
– Sharon Bakker; Betty Friedan – Christine MacInnis; Ralph/Bob/Hank
– Matt Burgess; Walter/Tommy – Tim Hildebrand.
Other New Work
in Progress
Alternating
between another new play and a new novel...and having a great time doing it.