Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TORONTO (January 9, 2015) - Rehearsals are now under way for Canadian Rep Theatre's presentation of the Toronto premiere of How Do I Love Thee? by Florence Gibson MacDonald which previews from January 31, opens February 5 and runs to February 22 at the Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre. Directed by Canadian Rep Artistic Director Ken Gass, How Do I Love Thee? is a language-rich exploration of both the euphoric and darker sides of the marriage of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, Victorian-era poets who enjoyed "rock star status" at the heights of their careers. Fittingly, there will be a special Canadian Rep Theatre Gala Benefit Night on Valentine's Day, February 14.
This delightful exploration of the intricacies of love, creativity and addiction features a stellar cast with Irene Poole and Matthew Edison as Robert and Elizabeth, Nora McLellan as Elizabeth's maid Wilson and David Schurmann as John Kenyon, Elizabeth's distant cousin and friend of Robert.
Following the euphoria of a heady courtship carried on chiefly through letters, Robert elopes to Italy with Elizabeth, only to discover her lifelong addiction to laudanum and other opiates which fuel her relentless creativity. Yet through all the darkness and complexity of the marriage, love in all its contradictions somehow endures, as epitomized in Barrett's famous Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Playwright Florence Gibson MacDonald notes, "My inspiration for this play came from a most unlikely source: the British Medical Journal wherein several doctors in the 1990s engaged in a lively discussion about Elizabeth Barrett's 'illness'. Well over a century after her death, they concluded that she did not suffer from tuberculosis, or a fall from a horse, or a crooked spine. She was a drug addict, hooked on morphine and laudanum. And as I delved into her famous courtship correspondence with Robert Browning and their elopement to Italy, the play became an exploration of love in all its expressions - poetic, romantic, courtly, filial, unrequited. The longing for love is the journey we take to find the other half of our most incomplete selves."
Select cast credits include:
Matthew Edison (Robert Browning) - Tarragon's Sextet, An Enemy of the People, The Real World?, Forests; Canadian Stage's Amadeus, Proof-Dora nomination, The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Soulpepper's A Christmas Carol, Loot, Awake and Sing!.
Nora McLellan (Wilson) - 26 seasons of leading roles with the Shaw and Stratford Festivals combined including Stratford's The Matchmaker and King of Thieves and the Shaw Festival's St. Joan and Gypsy; Theatre 20's Company, Tarragon's Music for Contortionist-Dora Award and Farther West-Dora nomination; Vancouver Playhouse's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf-Jessie Award.
Irene Poole (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) - Tarragon Theatre's The Bakelite Masterpiece, The Little Years-Dora Award; Factory Theatre's The Leisure Society-Dora Award; Birdland Theatre's The Last Days of Judas Iscariot-Dora Award).
David Schurmann (John Kenyon) - 30 seasons of leading roles at the Shaw Festival including On The Rocks, The Admirable Crichton as well as John Osborne's The Entertainer and four seasons at Stratford; Theatre Aquarius' And Then There Were None.
The production is designed by Shawn Kerwin, with costume design by Michael Gianfrancesco, lighting design by Cameron Davis and original music and sound design by Wayne Kelso. The stage manager is Diane Konkin.
Director Ken Gass says, "Though set in a Victorian context, this is a play that leaps off the page with unbridled theatricality and contemporary resonances on the nature of addiction and the complexities of marriage. Having been so involved in the early development of the play, I'm pleased to now offer a brand new production in Toronto with this extraordinary creative team to open Canadian Rep's 2015 season." How Do I Love Thee? premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects in 2010 and was shortlisted for a Betty Award for Best New Play.
Florence Gibson MacDonald is an award-winning playwright whose plays include the internationally produced Belle, which premiered at Factory Theatre in 2000, directed by Ken Gass, as well as Elevator, Take Care of Me, Home is My Road (also directed by Ken Gass) and Missing. With choreographer Shawn Byfield, she co-created the Dora Award-winning tap dance show, i think i can. She is currently working on The Fighting Spirit for YPT, her one-woman show Love Handles, and her novel Stout. She has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and genetics and an M.D. She practiced medicine in the Arctic, Hong Kong and East Africa before returning to Canada to practice and eventually write full-time.
Canadian Rep Theatre presents the Toronto premiere of
How Do I Love Thee?
By Florence Gibson MacDonald
Directed by Ken Gass
Starring Matthew Edison, Nora McLellan, Irene Poole, David Schurmann
Set design by Shawn Kerwin
Costume design by Michael Gianfrancesco
Lighting design by Cameron Davis
Original music and sound design by Wayne Kelso
Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street
February 5-22 (previews January 31 - February 4)
Special Canadian Rep Theatre Gala Benefit Night on Valentine's Day, February 14.
Performance Times: Tues - Sat 8pm, matinees Wed Feb 18 at 1pm and all Sundays at 2pm
except preview on Sun Feb 1 is at 7pm and not 2pm
General admission is $35 Tuesday-Friday and Wednesday and Sunday matinees; Saturdays are $40; Previews are $20.
(Plus applicable service charges. Discounts for seniors, students and groups and artsworkers.
Limited $15 Rush at door on Sunday matinees.)
Additionally, there is a Valentine's Day Gala on February 14 with Gala tickets $114 including pre- and post-show receptions and tax receipt for maximum allowable.
Regular-priced tickets are still offered without the receptions and tax receipt.
Tickets are available on the Canadian Rep Theatre website at http://canadianrep.ca/
or by calling the Berkeley Street Theatre/Canadian Stage Box Office at 416-368-3110.
Photo: David Schurmann. ©2009 Shaw Festival.
2015-01-09
Toronto: David Schurmann joins the cast of "How Do I Love Thee?" opening February 5