Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Richard Rose, Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre, is pleased to announce today the casting for the remaining 5 productions in Tarragon’s 2016/17 season, as well as an exciting remount of international sensation Blind Date in June 2017.
Tarragon’s 2017 year begins with Sequence in the Mainspace, a Betty Mitchell Award-winning play about science, luck and faith by Calgary ophthalmologist, playwright, filmmaker and musician Arun Lakra. The production is directed by Tarragon’s former Associate Artistic Director Andrea Donaldson and features Kevin Bundy, Jesse Lavercombe, Ava Markus and Nancy Palk.
Running alongside Sequence in the Extraspace is a remount of the critically acclaimed, Dora Award-winning production Infinity by Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Ross Manson and co-produced with Volcano Theatre. This inventive play about time, love, sex and math features many of the original cast members including Paul Braunstein, Amy Rutherford and Andréa Tyniec as the violinist. Vivien Endicott-Douglas takes on the central character Sarah Jean (played by Haley McGee in the premiere production in 2015). The play also features an original score written by Ngo Kong Kie.
Following in the Extraspace in February is the world premiere of Tarragon’s International Playwight-in-Residence Maria Milisavljevic’s Peace River Country, directed by Tarragon’s own Richard Rose. Inspired by the real-life story of Reverend Weibo Ludwig and his decades-long battle with the Alberta oil and gas industry, this new play explores the ties of love and loyalty that bind family and community in the face of adversity. The full cast of Peace River Country will be announced shortly.
In March, Tarragon audiences welcome back Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Erin Shields in the world premiere of her new comedy The Millennial Malcontent, a raucous exploration of millennial culture loosely based on John Vanbrugh’s The Provoked Wife. This new play features an exciting cast of actors, many in their Tarragon debut: Frank Cox-C’Connell, James Daly, Rong Fu, Natasha Mumba, Liz Peterson, Amelia Sargisson, Reza Sholeh and Dee Waboso. Directed by Peter Hinton.
Closing the 2016/17 subscription series is David Greig and Gordon McIntyre’s Midsummer (a play with songs), directed by Tamara Bernier Evans with Richard Rose. A rainy midsummer’s night in Edinburgh brings Bob (played by Brandon McGibbon) and Helena (played by Carly Street) together for a wild weekend of ill-advised romance and debauchery, set to quirky and lovely folk songs.
Mimi is back at Tarragon in June 2017! International sensation Blind Date returns to the Mainspace for the entire month of June, after a sold-out run in September of 2015. When Mimi’s date for the evening fails to show up, she turns to the audience for someone brave enough to answer Love’s call. What happens next is anybody’s guess... and different each night. A perfect way to kick off summer at Tarragon! Created by Rebecca Northan, with casting to be announced in the spring.
Sequence
Toronto premiere
Mainspace
by Arun Lakra
directed by Andrea Donaldson
featuring Kevin Bundy as Theo, Jesse LaVercombe as Mr. Adamson, Ava Markus as Cynthia and Nancy Palk as Dr. Guzman
January 3 – February 12, 2017 in the Mainspace (Opens January 11, 2017)
Do you believe in luck? A man successfully bets double or nothing on the Super Bowl coin toss for twenty years in a row. A professor races the clock on a ground-breaking discovery to cure the disease that is causing her own progressive blindness. Two fascinating stories intertwine like DNA, examining the interplay between science, faith, probability and luck.
“Sequence is a smart, funny, fast-paced play on the nature of luck and love that will leave both your head and your heart spinning.” – Vern Thiessen, Governor General’s Literary Award-winning Author
Infinity
Back by popular demand from the 2014/15 season
Extraspace
by Hannah Moscovitch
directed by Ross Manson
co-produced by Volcano Theatre
featuring Paul Braunstein as Elliot Green, Vivien Endicott-Douglas as Sarah Jean Green, Amy Rutherford as Carmen Green and Andréa Tyniec as violinist
original score composed by Ngo Kong Kie
January 4 – 29, 2017
Not sold on subscription.
How does a new Theory of Time change everything we know about ourselves? Three brilliant minds – a musician, a mathematician, and a theoretical physicist – smash together like colliding particles in an accelerator. Together they learn that love and time are connected in ways they couldn’t have imagined. Infinity is a shocking, funny and revelatory play about love, sex, & math by Tarragon Playwright-in-Residence Hannah Moscovitch developed with Volcano Theatre. Back by popular demand from Tarragon’s 2014/15 season.
Dora Award Winner – Best New Play (2015)
★★★½ out of 4: “Extremely affecting” – Toronto Star
★★★ out of 4: “Moving; beautifully acted.” – The Globe and Mail
NNNN: “Brilliant; makes you feel as much as it makes you think” – NOW Magazine
Peace River Country
World premiere
Extraspace
by Maria Milisavljevic
directed by Richard Rose
Cast to be announced shortly.
February 7 – March 19, 2017 (opens February 15, 2017)
Inspired by the real-life story of Reverend Wiebo Ludwig and his decades-long battle with the Alberta oil and gas industry, Peace River Country follows the lives of a close-knit traditional family as their land, health, and way of life become increasingly threatened by mega-corporations and big government. How does a traditional Christian family living off the land in rural Alberta gain a national reputation as violent eco-terrorists? This fictional account of real-life events is a timely look at the ties of love and loyalty that bind a community.
The Millennial Malcontent
World premiere
Mainspace
by Erin Shields
directed by Peter Hinton
featuring Frank Cox-C’Connell as Charm, James Daly as Heartfree, Rong Fu as Faith, Natasha Mumba as Teasel, Liz Peterson as Moxy, Amelia Sargisson as Mimi, Reza Sholeh as Johnny and Dee Waboso as Raz
February 28 – April 9, 2017 (Opens March 8, 2017)
Moxy is married and seething, fed up with the constraints of domesticity, and longing for some action. Meanwhile, her long-suffering husband Johnny has decided that enough is enough and contemplates having an affair with Faith, a secret admirer. Add to the mix a vain YouTube Star, his Québécois cousin, a lesbian party girl, a PhD student and a music blogger and the stage is set for a raucous exploration of the social posing, sexual frankness and emotional minefield of the Millennial generation.
This brand new play from Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Erin Shields is a fierce meditation on the millennial generation, loosely adapted from The Provoked Wife by Sir John Vanbrugh.
Midsummer (a play with songs)
Mainspace
by David Greig, music by Gordon McIntyre
directed by Tamara Bernier Evans with Richard Rose
featuring Brandon McGibbon as Bob and Carly Street as Helena
April 18 – May 28, 2017 (opens April 26, 2017)
Midsummer’s weekend in Edinburgh. It’s raining. Bob’s a failing car salesman on the fringes of the city’s underworld. Helena’s a high-powered divorce lawyer with a taste for other people’s husbands. She’s totally out of his league. He’s not her type at all. They absolutely should not sleep together. Which is, of course, why they do. Midsummer is the hilarious story of a great lost weekend of ill-advised romance: bridge-burning, car chases, wedding bust-ups, midnight trysts, poignant pop songs, honest humour, and self-loathing hangovers.
★★★★ “Exhilarating… you float out laughing as if you’ve just swallowed sunshine on a spoon.” – The Guardian
Blind Date
Back by popular demand from the 2015/16 season
Mainspace
created by Rebecca Northan
May 30 – June 25, 2017
Not sold on subscription.
Rebecca Northan’s hit show returns to the Tarragon after playing off-Broadway, in London’s West End, and across Canada, including a sold-out run here at Tarragon Theatre last September. When Mimi’s date for the evening fails to show up, she turns to the audience for someone brave enough to answer Love’s call. What happens next is anybody’s guess, and different each night. This unscripted, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventure is one saucy, daring and entertaining evening out.
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Showtimes are Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2:30pm, and select Saturdays at 2:30pm.
Tickets range from $29 - 65 and can be purchased online at www.tarragontheatre.com, or by phone at 416-531-1827. Discounts are available for seniors, students, groups and arts workers. Tarragon offers the most flexible subscription packages in the city with savings of up to 40%, allowing patrons to choose their productions, change their dates free of charge, and offering many different price points to suit all schedules and budgets. Visit the website or call Patron Services today for more information.
Rush tickets are sold for $20 cash only, in person at the theatre two hours before showtime. This year Tarragon also offers online rush tickets at varying discounts, 24h prior to the show. Both Rush ticket options are subject to availability.
For more information on Tarragon’s events and activities, visit www.tarragontheatre.com/calendar.
Twitter: @tarragontheatre
Facebook: Tarragon Theatre
Photo: Rebecca Northan in Blind Date. ©2012.
2016-12-07
Toronto: Tarragon Theatre announces casting and productions for 2016/17 season