Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Coal Mine Theatre presents the Toronto premiere of the in-your-face balls-to-the-wall black comedy, KILLER JOE, written by American playwright Tracy Letts and directed by Peter Pasyk (13/14 Urjo Kareda Artist-in-Residence), from April 3-24, 2016 at the Coal Mine Theatre.
In KILLER JOE, a twisted trailer park tragedy, drug debts have left Chris Smith in desperate need of a lot of money -- fast. Chris enlists his father, his sister and his shifty stepmother in the procurement of a hitman so he can ‘off' his alcoholic mother and collect the insurance money.
A deep-fried Southern gothic tale, KILLER JOE is crafted to exploit the sensory immediacy a stage production allows. Up-close-and-personal, “One watches the Smiths prey on one another with the same horrid fascination one might have watching a snake devour a rat.” – The New York Times
KILLER JOE is the brutal and shocking first play from Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County, Bug) who is known for his unflinching portrayals of human cruelty.
Directed by Peter Pasyk (Late Company/The Theatre Centre, Dying City/Surface/Underground Theatre); the cast features Matthew Gouveia (Edmond/Storefront Theatre, Who Killed Snow White?/Nightwood Theatre) as Chris Smith; Madison Walsh (A Spirit’s Face/Native Earth Performing Arts, The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later/Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) as his stepmother Sharla; Paul Fauteux (Richard III, Titus Andronicus/Stratford Festival, Afghanada/CBC Radio) as his father Ansel; Vivian Endicott-Douglas (Harper Regan/Canadian Stage, A Boy Called Newfoundland/Theatre Smash) as his sister Dottie; and Matthew Edison (An Enemy Of The People/Tarragon Theatre, A Christmas Carol/Soulpepper) as Killer Joe Cooper.
First produced by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 1993, KILLER JOE has received multiple productions across the United States, in London and Edinburgh, and had its Canadian premiere in Vancouver in 2014. In 2012 William Friedkin (The Exorcist) directed Killer Joe the feature film, adapted by Letts, starring Matthew McConaughey. Love, lust and murder Texas style; KILLER JOE mines the dark depths of family relations and what passes for humanity in America today.
Coal Mine Theatre is an independent theatre company curated by Ted Dykstra and Diana Bentley. The 2015/16 season features The River written by Jez Butterworth and directed by Ted Dykstra (ran Nov 1-22, 2015); Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale directed by Graham Abbey (ran Jan 26 – Feb 21, 2016); Killer Joe directed by Peter Pasyk (April 3-24, 2016); and Instructions (To Any Future Socialist Government Wishing To Abolish Christmas) written by Michael Mackenzie and directed by David Storch (May 29 – June 19, 2016).
Coal Mine Theatre presents
KILLER JOE
Written by Tracy Letts • Directed by Peter Pasyk
Starring Matthew Edison, Vivian Endicott-Douglas, Paul Fauteux, Matthew Gouveia, Madison Walsh
Set & Lighting Design: Patrick Lavender • Costume Design: Jenna McCutchen • Sound Design: Christopher Stanton The Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
April 3 – April 24, 2016 • Opening Night: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 @ 7:30pm
Tuesday to Sunday at 7:30pm • All Tickets $35 (preview $20)
To purchase tickets visit www.coalminetheatre.com/tickets/
@coalminetheatre • coalminetheatre/FB
#CoalMineTwo #IndieTheatre #KillerJoeTO
Trigger Warnings: smoking, drinking, gun shots, strobe light, Intense adult themes, strong language, nudity, sexual violence, physical violence
Photo: Paul Dunn.
2016-03-09
Toronto: Coal Mine Theatre presents "Killer Joe" by Tracy Letts April 3-24