Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Great Canadian Theatre Company and the County of Carleton Law Association are celebrating 15 years of producing The Lawyer Play Fundraiser with a new challenge of Shakespearean proportions –an adaptation of the Bard’s comic masterpiece - A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“We have been debating taking on Shakespeare for years. What decided it was the 15th Anniversary of the play”, said Tara Berish, Co-Chair of The Lawyer Play Committee. “After pulling off some increasingly challenging and compelling shows, we needed to find something that could hold up and even surpass the great plays we have had the opportunity to put on in the last few years. Enter the Bard. Coincidentally, this year is also the 450th anniversary of his birth.”
The large cast of 24 lawyers and judges will shed their suits and robes to become lovers, actors and fairies for one preview and three gala performances from April 23rd to 26th on the mainstage at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre. The comedy is directed by Patrick Gauthier, and EY has taken the lead in this fundraiser by returning as the title sponsor.
The Lawyer Play is one of the legal community’s longest running and most successful fundraisers. Over the past 14 years, they have raised over $1,000,000.00 in support of GCTC productions and charity partners such as Operation Come Home, The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa-Carleton and the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa. This year, The Lawyer Play Committee selected the Sharing in Student Success Program run by The Caring and Sharing Exchange (formerly known as The Christmas Exchange Program). This program provides students in need with backpacks stuffed with grade appropriate school supplies. Marva Friday, one of the many volunteers, figures she’s helped hundred of families with kids. She goes out to food banks to explain the Sharing in Student Success Program to families, gathers names and makes sure there is no duplication of services. Marva also helps to distribute some of the backpacks. “The kids are so excited when they get their supplies in colourful backpacks. You can see that it makes them feel great about themselves.”
About the play:
Magic, love spells, and an enchanted wood provide the materials for one of Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies. When four young lovers, fleeing the Athenian law and their own mismatched rivalries, take to the forest of Athens, their lives become entangled with a feud between the King and Queen of the Fairies. Some Athenian tradesmen, rehearsing a play for the forthcoming wedding of Duke Theseus and his bride, Hippolyta, unintentionally add to the hilarity. The result is a marvelous mix-up of desire and enchantment, merriment and farce, all touched by Shakespeare’s inimitable vision of the intriguing relationship between art and life, dreams and the waking world.
Cameo appearances:
There will be walk-on cameo roles each evening played by community VIPs.
Wednesday, April 23 - The Hon. Mme. Justice Giovanna Toscano Roccamo
Thursday, April 24 - The Hon. Sheila Copps, Gary Zed (Office Managing Partner - Ottawa, EY)
Friday, April 25 - The Hon. Mr. Justice Charles T. Hackland
Saturday, April 26 - The Hon. Mr. Justice Douglas J.A. Rutherford
Cast:
Justice Robert Beaudoin: Snug/Lion
Stephen Acker: Starveling/Moon
Tara Berish: Hermia
Paula Callaghan: Hippolyta
Mitch Charness: Bottom
Ashley Deathe: Titania
Peter Doody: Theseus
David Dunbar: Egeus
Carolyn Elliott-Magwood: Bramble
Craig Haynes: Hemp
Brett Hodgins: Demetrius
Dan Hohnstein: Oberon
Irena Kramer: Pickleweed
Falon Milligan: Mustardseed
Amanda Montague-Reinholdt: Helena
Aidan O'Neill: Flute/Thisby
Sig Pantazis: Cobweb
Janice Payne: Peter Quince
Allison Russell: Moth
Kirk Shannon: Puck
Sarah Speevak: Philostrate
Allison Vanek: Peasblossom
Marisa Victor: Snout/Wall
Jeffrey Warnock: Lysander
The play is directed by CAO Award-winner, Patrick Gauthier. Stage Managed by Chantal Hayman. Set and Props Design by John Doucet. Lighting Design by Guillaume Houët , Sound Design by AL Connors and Wardrobe Design by Vanessa Imeson. Fight Choreographer is John Koensgen and Assistant Stage Manager is Caitlin O’Brien.
Ticket information:
Tickets for the Gala evenings (April 24, 25, 26) are $100 and include a post-show reception and a $50 tax receipt. Tickets for the Preview performance on April 23 are $35. Tickets are available through any cast member or at the GCTC Box Office by calling 613-236-5196 or online at www.gctc.ca.
2014-03-26
Ottawa GCTC and CCLA celebrate 15 years of partnership with "A Midsummer Night's Dream"