Stage Door News
Stage Door News
July 2, 2015… Award-winning Canadian director Mitchell Cushman makes his Stratford directorial debut with John Mighton’s Governor General’s Award-winning play, Possible Worlds. Previews began Wednesday, July 1, at the Studio Theatre.
Mr. Mighton (whose play The Little Years was presented by the Festival in 2011) is not only an award-winning playwright, but also an acclaimed mathematician and educational innovator. With Possible Worlds, he explores the intriguing suggestion that every possible outcome of every event exists somewhere in an infinity of parallel universes. What happens to all the other lives we might have led? And what if one could sample them all?
The play revolves around the mysterious death of George Barber, whose body is found with its brain missing. Two detectives set out to uncover the truth behind his grisly death, in a plot that explores alternate dimensions and brings into question the very notion of reality.
The cast features Cyrus Lane as George and Krystin Pellerin, who makes her Festival debut as Joyce. Gordon S. Miller plays Williams, Sarah Orenstein plays Penfield and Michael Spencer-Davis plays Berkley.
“An actor friend once told me he felt he could spend his whole life working on Waiting for Godot – that the play’s enigmatic depth of understanding of the human condition was inexhaustible,” says Mr. Cushman. “I feel similarly about Possible Worlds. I have found that each time I return to Mighton’s script, things are not quite where I left them. I find logic where there used to be chaos, truth where I used to see illusion, beauty in what used to feel traumatic, and vice versa. I knew in conceiving of this production, I wanted to find ways to represent the disorienting experience of this fluidity.”
At once a cosmic thriller and philosophical whodunit, Possible Worlds is, above all, a haunting love story – one that, like the great classics, raises profound philosophical questions.
“Just as Hamlet is about reconciling ourselves to the ultimate mystery of death, Possible Worlds explores the mystery of life itself,” says Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, reflecting on this season’s theme of Discovery. “The play is enigmatic in nature as it explores the limits of the imagination of both the characters and audience alike. Though it was written almost 30 years ago, Mighton’s words speak so clearly to our world today, and are only amplified by the direction of Mitchell Cushman. It is truly a theatre experience like no other.”
As a two-time participant in the Michael Langham Workshop, Mr. Cushman has served as assistant director to Mr. Cimolino on the Stratford productions of The Beaux’ Stratagem and The Merchant of Venice. Awarded the Siminovitch Protégé Prize by Chris Abraham in 2013, Mr. Cushman has distinguished himself as one the fastest-rising directors in Canada today. Recent credits include Mr. Burns, Brantwood 1920-2020, Mr. Marmalade, and Terminus, which earned him the Toronto Critics’ Award for best director when it was remounted by Mirvish Productions in 2013. He serves as Co-Artistic Director of Outside the March Theatre Company.
Ms Pellerin is well-known for her sensational run as Constable Leslie Bennett in CBC’s Republic of Doyle, for which she received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Actress. Her stage credits include several seasons at Soulpepper, including Emily in Our Town, Luisa in The Fantasticks, Mary Snow in Salt-Water Moon and Cathleen in Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
Mr. Lane returns for his fourth Stratford season after roles in Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, Wanderlust and Peter Pan. He has also appeared at Canadian Stage, the Shaw Festival, Soulpepper, Theatre Passe Muraille, and many others. He has been recognized with three Dora Award nominations, winning the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble for Passion Play.
Artistic credits for Possible Worlds include Set Designer Anahita Dehbonehie, Costume Designer Dana Osborne, Lighting Designer Kimberly Purtell, Projection Designer Nick Bottomley, Sound Designer Christopher Stanton, Fight Director John Stead and Magic Consultant David Ben.
Production support is generously provided by Mary Ann & Robert Gorlin.
Support for the 2015 season of the Studio Theatre is generously provided by Sandra & Jim Pitblado.
Possible Worlds Forum Highlights
The Stratford Festival Forum is a series of activities and events, including fascinating talks, interactive presentations, concerts, comedy shows and performances, that offer theatregoers a unique opportunity to delve further into the ideas and issues raised by the 2015 playbill and its theme of Discovery: That Eureka Moment.
Themes related to Possible Worlds will be explored through several Forum events, including:
· Behind the Scenes: Possible Worlds
Saturday, July 4, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Studio Theatre
Get a look at the magic behind Possible Worlds with set designer Anahita Dehbonehie, projection designer Nick Bottomley and magic consultant David Ben, moderated by director Mitchell Cushman.
· Is there a Canadian Canon?
Sunday, July 12, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Tom Patterson Theatre
A panel of leading Canadian artists including Allan Hawco debate the nature and value of a Canadian canon of dramatic works.
· John Mighton: Art, Science and Education
Tuesday, August 18, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Festival Theatre lobby
By the time they graduate from high school, most students are convinced that the sciences are boring and beyond their grasp, John Mighton talks about some of the scientific ideas behind his plays and about the ways our culture and society might be enriched if we were to nurture the full intellectual potential of our children.
Sustaining support for the Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.
Support for the 2015 season of the Forum is provided in memory of Dr. W. Philip Hayman.
Stratford Direct, the daily return private bus service, now offers two routes: Toronto to Stratford and Detroit to Stratford. The Toronto bus costs $20 round trip, departing twice daily from May 4 to September 19. The Detroit bus costs $40 round trip, departing once daily from May 26 to September 19. Both routes are available on performance days with some exceptions.
Stratford Direct is generously sponsored by the Peter Cundill Foundation.
The 2015 season, which runs until November 1, features Hamlet, The Sound of Music, Carousel, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Taming of the Shrew, She Stoops to Conquer, The Physicists, The Alchemist, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Oedipus Rex, Possible Worlds, The Last Wife and The Adventures of Pericles. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1.800.567.1600.
Photo: Possible Worlds. ©2015 Don Dixon.
2015-07-02
Stratford: "Possible Worlds" by John Mighton begins previews