Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Company Theatre presents the Canadian premiere of JOHN, by Pulitzer Prize–winning American dramatist Annie Baker. The production hits the stage January 29, running through February 19 at the Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs, and is directed by acclaimed actor Jonathan Goad, making his directorial debut, leading an exceptional cast of Nancy Beatty, Nora McLellan, Philip Riccio, and Loretta Yu.
The most recent play by Baker, JOHN first premiered in August 2015 in New York at the Pershing Square Signature Centre starring Christopher Abbott, Hong Chau, Georgia Engel, and Lois Smith, and was directed by regular Baker collaborator Sam Gold. Baker’s plays have been produced at over 150 theatres throughout the U.S. and have been produced internationally in over a dozen countries.
In JOHN, Baker introduces a cheerful innkeeper, a young couple struggling to stay together, and thousands of inanimate objects, watching. A simple enough description, but Annie Baker’s fascinating play looks at what theatre can be and builds a world all its own. Baker’s hyperrealism bleeds into the eerily supernatural in this quiet tale where actors and audiences alike delve into ideas of self, mortality, and the solitude of human experience.
“Ms. Baker is clearly one of the most important voices in American theatre today,” said The Company Theatre co–Artistic Director Philip Riccio. “We’re thrilled to be introducing Toronto audiences to her latest work.”
Riccio added, “Jonathan is one of the most dedicated, curious, and brave performers I’ve worked with. I’ve always felt that he would make an exceptional director, it was just a matter of finding the right time and project for him. We couldn’t be more excited that he chose The Company Theatre to begin his directorial career.”
Goad comments, “Staying true to The Company Theatre’s work, my main focus as director will be to support the actors in order to best serve this incredibly delicate play. Hopefully we can provide the audience with an individual and collective experience as full, varied, mysterious, and human as the play itself. I'm scared and excited as hell.”
Notably, the January 31 opening night of JOHN in the Berkeley Street Upstairs Theatre comes almost exactly 12 years after The Company Theatre’s inaugural production of A Whistle in the Dark in the same space and starring Jonathan Goad. Goad was also a member of the 2012 The Company Theatre production of Speaking In Tongues, directed by Philip Riccio.
JOHN will be on stage in Toronto from January 29 to February 19, 2017. (Opening night: January 31). Single tickets are available from $20 to $47. Full details on the production and ticket sales are available online at companytheatre.ca.
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Photo: Loretta Yu and Philip Riccio. ©2017.
2017-01-10
Toronto: The Company Theatre presents "John" by Annie Baker January 29-February 19