Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON… Nightwood Theatre is thrilled to present the Toronto professional Premiere of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad in January 2012. The play will open January 10 and run until January 29, 2012 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Nightwood has had The Penelopiad in its sights since its exciting Director’s Masterclass presentation during the company’s 30th anniversary season. Nightwood is delighted to bring this powerful and important myth of our times to the Toronto stage.
The Penelopiad is Atwood’s uncompromising response to Homer’s The Odyssey following Penelope (Megan Follows) through the 20 year absence of her husband Odysseus who’s fighting in the Trojan War. Left to raise an unruly son, fend off hundreds of opportunistic suitors and maintain composure amidst scandalous rumours, Penelope enlists her maids in a ruse to protect her good name. But when Odysseus massacres the suitors and brutally hangs the 12 maids upon his return, all eyes look to Penelope in her culpability. “Now that I’m dead I know everything” are the first lines uttered as she returns from the underworld, Hades, to set the record straight. But in Atwood’s clever hands, Penelope is haunted by the twelve handmaidens who’ve fallen victim because of her deceptive ploy. Laced with wisdom and a razor sharp wit, the play weaves classical tragedy, Victorian melodrama, campy burlesque and rollicking song.
Kelly Thornton, Nightwood’s Artistic Director and Director of The Penelopiad, remarks, “I don’t think there is a more fitting play for Nightwood Theatre. Atwood’s radical retelling of this ancient myth, from a woman’s perspective, gives voice to those silenced in both literature and history. Moreover it dissects issues of class and privilege by allowing the handmaidens themselves to challenge even Penelope’s version of the truth. It’s such rich material from which to make theatre!” Thornton has brought together some of our most formidable actors in theatre today and adds “I am thrilled to be bringing such a powerhouse ensemble of women together to tell this story. It is truly a coup to have them all share the stage.”
Margaret Atwood, Playwright
Margaret Atwood is an internationally recognized novelist, poet, literary critic, feminist and political activist. Her books have been published in more than thirty languages and include The Handmaid's Tale (McClelland & Stewart 1985), which was made into a film of the same name; The Blind Assassin (McClelland & Stewart 2000), which won the Booker Prize; and Oryx and Crake (Bloomsbury 2003), shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for fiction. Margaret's The Circle Game (1964) won the Governor General's award for poetry and her most well known collection is The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970), in which she writes poems from the view point of a historical 19th century Canadian pioneer on the frontier. Born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1939, Margaret began writing when she was sixteen. In 1961, after winning the E J Pratt Medal for her privately-printed book of poems, Double Persephone, she began graduate studies at Harvard's Radcliffe College with a Woodrow Wilson fellowship and obtained her Master's degree a year later. She has taught at the University of British Columbia (1965), Sir George Williams University in Montreal (1967-68), the University of Alberta (1969-79), York University in Toronto (1971-72) and New York University, where she was Berg professor of English. Margaret is married to the writer Graeme Gibson, and they have a daughter. Margaret divides her time between Toronto and Pelee Island, Ontario. Her latest novel is The Year of The Flood (Bloomsbury 2009) which received international critical acclaim. Her recently published work of non-fiction is Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (Bloomsbury 2008), examines the metaphor of debt and the role it plays in our lives.
Megan Follows, Penelope
One of this country’s most prominent actors, Megan Follows starred as ‘Francy Thompson’ in the Booky tv movies, as ‘Sharon Twain’ in the television movie, Shania: A Life In Eight Albums, and as whistle-blower ‘Sherry Cardinel’ in Open Heart, each of which garnered Gemini nominations (she was twice recognized with Gemini nominations for her role in Booky Makes Her Mark and Booky and the Secret Santa). Her many credits include the television movie, Plainsong, a Hallmark presentation starring Aidan Quinn; the historical drama The Stork Derby; Under The Piano with Amanda Plummer and Teresa Stratas; the title role in Cry In The Wild: The Taking Of Peggy Ann; Disney’s Back To Hannibal: The Return Of Tom Sawyer And Huckleberry Finn, and Champagne Charlie, starring Hugh Grant. In 1988, she starred with Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards in the Emmy Award-winning television movie, Inherit The Wind. Follows has guest starred on some of television’s most popular series including Heartland, CSI, Cold Case, The Border, Robson Arms, ER, Law And Order, The X-Files, The Division, The Fugitive, Made In Canada, Big Wolf On Campus, and The Outer Limits, among many others. Additionally, she will soon be seen in a guest star appearance for the hit series House. Follows’ big screen credits include Alan King’s powerful feature, Termini Station, which earned her a Genie nomination for Best Actress. Her film credits also include Breakfast with Scot; Reluctant Angel; Deep Sleep; A Time Of Destiny, with William Hurt and Timothy Hutton; Stacking, with Christine Lahti and Peter Coyote; and Stephen King’s Silver Bullet, with Gary Busey. Megan was also on the hit CBC radio series Afghanada and recently took on dual roles as both narrator and stills photographer on the documentary feature film, Small Voices: The Stories of Cambodia’s Children.
Best known for her portrayal of “Anne Shirley” in the Anne Of Green Gables trilogy, Megan Follows got her first big break at age 11 when she landed the role of “Jenny” in the television series Matt And Jenny, followed by a recurring role on The Baxters. She guest-starred on the popular series Hangin’ In and The Littlest Hobo before auditioning for producer Norman Lear, who cast her in an episode of the NBC series Facts Of Life. As Follows began to divide her time between L.A. and Toronto, she performed lead roles in the television movie Jen’s Place; the Oscar-winning short film Boys And Girls, and the mini-series Hockey Night, which earned her a 1985 ACTRA Award nomination. While filming Hockey Night, Follows landed the role of “Anne”, a role that earned her a 1987 Gemini for her performance in Anne Of Green Gables and a 1988 Gemini for Anne Of Avonlea. In 2000, she reprised her role of “Anne Shirley” in Anne Of Green Gables: The Continuing Story.
Follows’ numerous theatre credits include ‘Desdemona’ in Othello at the NAC (co pro with Citadel theatre); Seven Lears with Necessary Angel Theatre Company; and Soulpepper Theatre’s production of Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love, The Real Thing and Three Sisters. Other credits include Uncle Vanya with Geffen Playhouse and The Seagull with Globe Theatre (San Diego). Megan also starred with her mother, Dawn Greenhalgh, in Soulpepper’s production of the Pulitzer prize-winning, Night Mother. She has worked with prestigious companies such as the Stratford Festival (Romeo and Juliet, Amadeus) and The National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Other notable credits include Nora in A Doll’s House at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (directed by Michael Langham) and Mirvish’s production of Cloud Nine in Toronto. This January, Follows was in the Canadian premiere of This with Vancouver Playhouse.
In 2008, Megan was nominated for two Dora Mavor Moore Best Actress Awards for her performances as Masha in Three Sisters and Marlene in Soulpepper’s award-winning presentation of Top Girls.
Kelly Thornton, Director/Artistic Director
Kelly Thornton has been at the helm of Nightwood since 2001. She has been directing for the stage for over 20 years and was the recipient of the Pauline McGibbon Award for Directing in 2003 and was nominated for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, as well as several Dora Mavor Moore Awards. At Nightwood, her direction, namely of The List, That Face, Wild Dogs (all in association with Canadian Stage), Bear with Me, The Danish Play, China Doll and Mathilde has received wide acclaim and several have toured nationally and internationally. She has also directed at Canadian Stage (A Comedy of Errors), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (Peep Show), Yukon Arts Centre/Sour Brides/Magnetic North (So Many Doors), Theatre Passe Muraille / Planet 88 (This Hotel) among others. For Nightwood this season she will be directing Jordi Mand’s Between the Sheets for the New Groundswell Festival and The Happy Woman by Rose Cullis. Kelly also has an extensive teaching career and is currently the Associate Director of the National Theatre School’s Directing Program. In 2008, she was recognized for her commitment to training and mentorship of young women in the performing arts by being named a YWCA Woman of Distinction (Arts & Letters).
Maev Beaty, Laertes/Maid
Maev Beaty’s coming out party was Canadian Stage’s 2008 season where she played Helena in Dream and premiered in Judith Thompson’s Palace of the End. Shakespeare’s Titania and Kate followed and she has since performed in 10 Canadian Premieres, gathering 3 Dora nominations for performance in Dance of the Red Skirts (Theatre Columbus), and for performance and writing of Montparnasse, which she co-created with Erin Shields and Andrea Donaldson. She has been a proud ensemble member of huge theatre endeavours such at TheatreFront’s The Mill series and Volcano Theatre’s Another Africa (Luminato/Canadian Stage) and is Co-Artistic Director of Sheep No Wool Theatre Company and an Artistic Associate of Groundwater Productions. www.maevbeaty.com
Christine Brubaker, Icarius/Maid
Award-winning actor, director and musician, Christine Brubaker has performed nationally and internationally with Fear of Flight (Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland) and The Danish Play (Nightwood Theatre). Favourite credits: The Vaudevilles of Chekov (NAC), A Comedy of Errors (Canadian Stage), The Trials of John Demjanjuk (Theatre Asylum), and The Babysitter by Eric Woolfe (Dora Award Best Performance). As a composer, she’s worked for YPT, Theatre Asylum and The Shaw Festival. She directed Eldritch Theatre’s Madhouse Variations and Doc Wuthergloom’s Haunted Medicine Show and in 2012 will direct Much Ado About Nothing (Nightwood Theatre, Lawyer Show). She is a 1994 Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and a regular Instructor at Humber College AFTV Program, YPT and Armstrong Acting Studios, Voice Artist.
Sarah Dodd, Anticleia/Maid
Sarah Dodd has performed for seven seasons at the Stratford Festival. She received a Dora Award for her work in Marion Bridge and is a graduate of George Brown Theatre School. She was most recently seen in The New Electric Ballroom (MacKenzie Ro Theatre) and will be performing in The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs (Tarragon Theatre). Other theatre credits include The Age of Arousal (Nightwood Theatre), Communion, The Fall and Humble Boy (Tarragon Theatre); A Whistle In the Dark and Marion Bridge (Company Theatre); Them and Us (Theatre Passe Muraille); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Canadian Stage); The Importance of Being Earnest (Stratford Festival).
Monica Dottor, Oracle/Maid (Choreographer)
Monica Dottor is an actor and choreographer and has been nominated for Dora Awards* in both fields. She most recently finished shooting her 1st lead in a feature film, The Shape of Rex and choreographed/created/directed Malaria Lullaby (Summerworks). Acting credits include Picture Day (Kate Melville Films), The Trolley Car & In Full Light (Summerworks), The Middle Place, A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Overcoat* (Canadian Stage), Scratch* (Dora nomination) & Featuring Loretta (Factory), The Red Queen Effect (Seventh Stage), Chekhov’s Shorts & Chekhov’s Heartache (Theatre Smith-Gilmour), Machina Nuptialis (Corpus Dance), Rookie Blue (Global/ABC), The Russian Play (Choreography*-Dora Nomination- Factory), The Crossing Guard (PBP). Choreography credits include Malaria Lullaby (Company Blonde-Summerworks), The Russian Play (Factory-Dora Nomination), 2010 Dora Mavor Moore Awards show, The Middle Place (Canadian Stage/Belfry/GCTC), The Red Queen Effect (7th Stage), The Review (Summerworks), The Canada Dance Festival, Dusk Dances, Nuit Blanche (Ruby Venus in Trinity Bellwoods Park - Company Blonde Dance Projects).
Raven Dauda, Antinous/Maid
Raven Dauda was seen most recently in Tout Comme Elle (Necessary Angel/Luminato) and Intimate Apparel (Obsidian Theatre Company/The Citadel Theatre). Other stage and television credits include Miss Julie: Freedom Summer (The Vancouver Playhouse/Canadian Stage, Dora Award Recipient), Doubt: A Parable (Canadian Stage, Dora Award Nominee), Wild Dogs (Nightwood Theatre in association with Canadian Stage), The Firm (NBC), Saving Hope (Global), The Bridge (CTV/CBS) and Crash & Burn (Showcase), First Hand Woman (Montreal Fringe Festival), Twilight Café (Theatre Archipelago), and Da Kink In My Hair (Mirvish Productions).
Kelli Fox, Odysseus/Maid
Kelli Fox has played some of the most coveted roles in English theatre. At Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada she starred in The Misanthrope, The Three Sisters, The Trespassers, Trojan Women and Palmer Park. In her ten years at the Shaw Festival Kelli starred in many productions including The Age of Arousal, The Women, The Crucible, Rutherford and Son, Waiting for the Parade, Plough and the Stars, Three Sisters, Candida (in the title role), Playboy of the Western World, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Joy and Major Barbara (in the title role). Her tour de force performance as Virginia Woolf in a Room of One’s Own garnered Kelli an Ottawa Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. Recent favourites include August: Osage County at Citadel Theatre, Blithe Spirit (Segal Centre), Top Girls (Soulpepper Theatre Company), Scorched (Tarragon Theatre), Hamlet (in the title role, Geva Theatre, Rochester, NY), Much Ado About Nothing (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) and the Canadian premiere of Frozen (Citadel Theatre). Recent film and television includes Flashpoint (CTV/AVC), When Love is not Enough (CBS) and Daniel’s Daughter (Hallmark Channel).
Cara Gee, Melantho/Maid
Most recently, Cara Gee has performed in The Rez Sisters (Factory) and The Jones Boy (surface/underground). Cara is an ensemble member of the independent company, Birdtown and Swanville. Credits with Birdtown and Swanville: The Physical Ramifications of Attempted Global Domination (Summerworks), 36 Little Plays About Hopeless Girls (Fringe), Dead Wrestlers (Rhubarb) and Family Story. Other theatre credits include: Stitch (Dependent Theatre Projects, Summerworks--Spotlight Award), Spirit Horse (Roseneath Theatre), Flowers (Rose City Theatre Festival), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Resurgence), and Tout Comme Elle (Necessary Angel). Upcoming, she will be in The Real World (Tarragon). Cara has a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor.
Patricia Hamilton, Eurycleia/Maid
Patricia Hamilton has been acting for more than 50 years. As well as 13 seasons at the Shaw Festival she has been seen across Canada from Vancouver to Stratford to Halifax. In Toronto she has appeared at Tarragon, Factory, Passe Muraille, Necessary Angel and Canadian Stage among others. She is also a director, teacher and producer (having been one of the founders of Masterclass theatre). To TV viewers she is known as Rachel Lynde in the Road to Avonlea series. She was most recently seen in Nurse Guinness in Heartbreak House (Shaw Festival).
Tara Rosling, Naiad/Maid
Tara Rosling’s theatre credits include: If We Were Birds (Dora Award), Hush and Perfect Pie (Tarragon Theatre), St. Joan, The Heiress, The Magic Fire, Pygmalion, Nothing Sacred, The Three Sisters (Shaw Festival), Festen (Company Theatre), The Glass Menagerie (TNW), Habeas Corpus and The Lonesome West (Canadian Stage), The Miracle Worker (ATF), Twelfth Night and Tempest Tost (Stratford Festival) and The Two Noble Kinsmen (Theatre in the Rough), See Bob Run (Factory Theatre - Dora Nomination). Film & T.V. credits include: XIII, Murdoch Mysteries, The Listener, Crash & Burn, The Uncles, The Five Senses, The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. She was most recently seen in When The Rain Stops Falling and The President (Shaw Festival), and will be starring in Misalliance & Helen's Necklace (Shaw Festival).
Pamela Sinha, Helen/Maid
Pamela Sinha received a Dora Nomination for her work as Rekha in Brothel #9. She is part of Cahoots Theatre Playwrights Unit for 2011/12, and in April 2012 she will premiere her solo play CRASH as part of Theatre Passe Muraille’s winter season. She was recently seen in The Rez Sisters (Factory Theatre). Selected theatre credits include: Brothel #9 (Factory Theatre), Tout Comme Elle (Necessary Angel), Possible Worlds (Theatre Passe Muraille). Selected Film and Television: series leads on The Newsroom and Traders, ER (recurring), guest starring roles on Huff, Crossing Jordan, Rick Mercer Report; films include Breakaway, HBO’s Live from Baghdad, and Jinnah on Crime. Pamela's short story Hiding was published in the best selling anthology Dropped Threads Vol.2 (Random House Canada), edited by Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson. She is currently at work on her second play, Happy Place.
Sophia Walker, Menelaus/Maid
Sophia Walker is a successful classical actor who has received awards from The Stratford Shakespeare Festival. She most recently was seen in Toronto in the Dora winning production Ruined (Obsidian Theatre in association with Nightwood). Other acting credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Canadian Stage), Words Written on Air (Nightwood), Orchids (Marquis Entertainment/Roundhouse Theatre), Rookie Blue (Global/ABC), The Tempest (Melbar Entertainment). The last five years Sophia has been a company member for The Stratford Shakespeare Festival playing leads in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet just to name a few.
Bahia Watson, Telemachus/Maid
Bahia Watson is a graduate of Nightwood Theatre’s Write from the Hip program. She was most recently seen as Tracey in DISS (Mixed Company *Dora Nominated Performance), Beneatha Younger in A Raisin In The Sun (Soulpepper), and in pomme is french for apple (co-writer and performer). Her one-woman show, in search of shanequa jenkins, is currently in development. Bahia loves to tell stories through plays, poetry, music, cooked food and short stories. She is also a member of arts collective, 88 Days of Fortune. www.bahiawatson.com
ABOUT NIGHTWOOD THEATRE
Nightwood Theatre – Artistic Director Kelly Thornton, Producer Denyse Karn and Chair Karon Bales
As Canada’s national women’s theatre since 1979, Nightwood has launched the careers of countless leading theatre artists in the country. We have won Canada’s highest literary and performing arts awards and more than ever our success proves the need for theatre that gives voice to women and celebrates the diversity of Canadian society. We remain actively engaged in mentoring young women and promoting women’s place on the local, national and international stage.
2011-12-01
Toronto: Megan Follows is Penelope in Margaret Atwood’s “The Penelopiad” January 10-29, 2012