Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Richard Rose, Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre, is pleased to announce today the casting for the January to May productions in Tarragon’s 2017/18 season.
Tarragon begins the year on January 2 in the Mainspace with the world premiere of Richard Rose’s ambitious project, a rock and roll concert of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. With Musical Direction and Composition by Thomas Ryder Payne (Dora Award for Tarragon’s If We Were Birds and Aluna Theatre’s Madre; THEATRE: Tarragon’s An Enemy of the People, Lungs, Sextet, Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage; MUSIC: member of the Juno-nominated band Joydrop) and performed by the 11 member ensemble, this contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s classic uses rock music as a vehicle to express a young generation’s anger at the hypocrisy of the world. Hamlet features Noah Reid (Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song; THEATRE: Soulpepper, Stratford Festival; TV: “Schitt’s Creek”; trained at National Theatre School of Canada), Nigel Shawn Williams (Three Dora Awards for Outstanding Performance - Six Degrees of Separation, Two Words for Snow and Topdog/Underdog; THEATRE: Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Factory Theatre, Canadian Stage, Obsidian Theatre Company, National Arts Centre), Rachel Cairns (THEATRE: Tarragon’s The Summoned, Bard on the Beach’s The Cymbeline, Hamlet, Twelfth Night; Trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London), Brandon McGibbon (Dora Award nomination for Mirvish’s The Producers; THEATRE: Tarragon’s Forests, The Misanthrope, Soulpepper, Mirvish, Canadian Stage; TV: “Republic of Doyle”, “Murdoch Mysteries”, “Flashpoint”, “Rookie Blue”), Jack Nicholsen (Tarragon’s Moliere, THEATRE: Volcano Theatre, Neptune Theatre, Blythe Festival; TV: Flashpoint, Falling Skies, Murdoch Mysteries), Jesse LaVercombe (THEATRE: Tarragon’s Sequence, National Arts Centre, Driftwood Theatre’s 2017 Playwright-in-Residence; TV: “American Gods”, “Salvation”; Trained at National Theatre School of Canada and Canadian Film Centre Actors Conservatory), Tiffany Ayalik (THEATRE: The Belfry Theatre, Manitoba Theatre for Young People; MUSIC: Singer with Quantum Tangle; Trained at Red Deer College, University of Alberta), Tantoo Cardinal (Member of the Order of Canada, 2017 Earle Grey Award, Maclean's Magazine Honor Roll as Actress of the Year, 2015 ACTRA Award of Excellence, Genie Award nomination for Loyalties; FILM/TV: Dances with Wolves, Black Robe, Legends of the Fall, Smoke Signals and “North of 60”), Beau Dixon (Two Dora Award for Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story including Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance; THEATRE: Artistic Director of Firebrand Theatre, Factory Theatre), Greg Gale (THEATRE: Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre, Citadel Theatre; TV: “Covert Affairs”, “Murdoch Mysteries”; Trained at National Theatre School of Canada) and Cliff Saunders (THEATRE: Soulpepper, Mirvish, Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, VideoCabaret).
Running alongside in the Extraspace beginning January 3 is the remount production of Kat Sandler’s (Tarragon’s Canada Council Playwright in Residence, 2014 Tarragon Playwrights Unit, 2015 Dora Award-winner Outstanding New Play for Mustard; THEATRE: Artistic Director of Theatre Brouhaha, TV: Story editor for CBC’s “Kim’s Convenience”) Dora-Award winning hit of Tarragon 2015/16 season, Mustard. Directed by Ashlie Corcoran (Incoming Artistic Director of Arts Club Theatre Company, past Artistic Director of Thousand Islands Playhouse, Co-founder and Artistic Producer of Theatre Smash, Dora Award for Outstanding Production The Ugly One; THEATRE: Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage, Centaur Theatre; MUSIC: Canadian Opera Company, the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Soundstreams), Mustard is a dark and twisted fairy tale about an imaginary friend’s quest to stay in our world; a whimsical story about growing up, losing innocence and our unrelenting quest for love. Reprising his Dora Award-winning title role is Anand Rajaram (Artistic Director of @N@f@N@ and of Dishoom South Asian Performance Festival; THEATRE: Soulpepper, Stratford Festival, The Second City, Canadian Stage, VideoCabaret, Factory Theatre) who will be performing alongside fellow remount cast members: Sarah Dodd (Dora Award for Outstanding Performance for Marion Bridge; THEATRE: Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, Nightwood Theatre; TV: “Murdoch Mysteries”), Rebecca Liddiard (TV: “Alias Grace”, “Houdini & Doyle”; trained at Ryerson Theatre School) and Tony Nappo (THEATRE: Tarragon’s The Real World?, God in Need of Help, The Golden Dragon, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre ), with newcomers Travis Seetoo (THEATRE: Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival, Ross Petty Productions, Thousand Islands Playhouse; DANCE: National Ballet of Canada; Trained at Sheridan College, The National Ballet School) and Conrad Coates (THEATRE: Stratford Festival, FILM: Tron: Legacy, X-Men: Apocalypse).
On stage beginning February 13 in the Extraspace is Drew Hayden Taylor’s (multiple nominations for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, Dora Award for Outstanding New Play for Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth, Chalmers Award-winner, Gemini Award nominee; THEATRE: previous Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts) Cottagers and Indians. This sincere and pragmatic look at conflicts between traditional First Nations water usage and cottage property owners is more relevant than ever with the current disputes over harvesting of wild rice on Pigeon, Chemong and Buckhorn Lakes in the Kawarthas. Cottagers and Indians is directed by Patti Shaughnessy (THEATRE: Red Sky Performance, Magnus Theatre, The Rez Sisters National Theatre in Nuuk, Greenland) and features Herbie Barnes (THEATRE: The Public Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Magnetic North Theatre Festival; TV: “The Rez”, “Murdoch Mysteries”; FILM: Dance Me Outside) and Tracey Hoyt (Gemini Award-nominee; THEATRE: The Second City).
February 21 brings the start of the Toronto premiere of Bunny, written by Hannah Moscovitch (2017 Tarragon Playwright-in-Residence, 2017 Siminovitch Prize nominee, Governor General’s Award nominee, 2015 Dora Award for Outstanding New Play for Infinity, 2010 Dora Award for Outstanding Production for In This World; THEATRE: Tarragon’s East of Berlin, This is War, Infinity, Stratford Festival, National Arts Centre, Banff Centre, Factory Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre) and directed by Sarah Garton Stanley (Associate Artistic Director at National Arts Centre, former Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2016 Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’ Elliot Hayes Award, Siminovitch Prize nominee; THEATRE: Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). Bunny is a play about repressive social convention, personal inhibition and desire unleashed. After receiving critics acclaim during its run in the 2016 Stratford Festival season, Bunny comes to Tarragon’s Mainspace and features Maev Beaty (Multi Dora Award-winner, Co-Artistic Director of Sheep No Wool, Artist-in-Residence at the Theatre Centre; THEATRE: Tarragon’s Wide Awake Hearts, Stratford Festival, Soulpepper, Canadian Stage, Theatre Passe Muraille) once again starring in the lead role. Additional Bunny cast members include Cyrus Lane (THEATRE: Soulpepper, Stratford Festival, Ross Petty Productions, Theatre Passe Muraille, Young People’s Theatre; TV: “Murdoch Mysteries”), Matthew Edison (THEATRE: Tarragon’s An Enemy of the People, Sextet, The Real World?, Forests, Midnight Sun, Soulpepper, Canadian Stage, Coal Mine; FILM & TV: “Republic of Doyle”, “Murdoch Mysteries”), Gabriella Albino (THEATRE: YES Theatre, Young People’s Theatre; Trained at George Brown Theatre School), Tony Ofori (THEATRE: Harold Green Theatre) and Jesse LaVercombe (THEATRE: Tarragon’s Sequence, National Arts Centre, Driftwood Theatre’s 2017 Playwright-in-Residence; TV: “American Gods”, “Salvation”; Trained at National Theatre School of Canada and Canadian Film Centre Actors Conservatory).
Rounding out the 2017/18 season in the Mainspace is the Canadian premiere of Evan Placey’s (Writers’ Guild Award for Girls Like That, RBC National Playwriting Competition Award for Mother of Him, THEATRE Canada: Scarberia at Young People’s Theatre; THEATRE UK: National Theatre, Out of Joint, the Unicorn, NYT and Stratford East) Girls Like That. Placey returns home from the U.K. with his explosive new play that explores the evolution of feminist consciousness and modern female friendships in the wake of advancing technology. Directed by Tarragon’s Assistant Artistic Director Esther Jun (THEATRE: Soulpepper, Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Obsidian Theatre) and choreographed by Alyssa Martin (Artistic Director of Rock Bottom Movement, Toronto Dance Theatre’s Emerging Voices Project Resident, Kenny Pearl Award, DANCE: Ryerson University; THEATRE: Next Stage Theatre Festival, Citadel Theatre Young Musical Company), the all female cast features Cynthia Hicks (Studio 180’s RBC Emerging Playwright, THEATRE: fu-GEN Theatre Company), Nadine Bhabha (FILM: Holiday Joy, Imposters; Trained at York University), Lucy Hill (THEATRE: Neptune Theatre, Imperial Theatre, Bad Dog Theatre), Tess Benger (THEATRE: Shaw Festival, Soulpepper, Canadian Stage), Rachel VanDuzer (THEATRE: Theatre Erindale), Shakura Dickson (THEATRE: Soulpepper, Obsidian Theatre, Cahoots Theatre, Outside the March) and Allison Edwards-Crewe (FILM: A Witches' Ball).
Hamlet
World premiere
Mainspace
written by William Shakespeare
directed by Richard Rose
composer & music director, Thomas Ryder Payne
costume designer, Kathleen Johnston
lighting designer, Jason Hand
stage manager, Natasha Bean-Smith
apprentice stage manager, Alice Ferreyra
featuring: Noah Reid, Nigel Shawn Williams, Rachel Cairns, Brandon McGibbon, Jack Nicholsen, Jesse LaVercombe, Tiffany Ayalik, Tantoo Cardinal, Beau Dixon, Greg Gale, Cliff Saunders
January 2 - February 11, 2018 (Opens January 10, 2018)
Young Prince Hamlet seeks to avenge his father’s death in a world torn apart by political deception. Shakespeare’s best-known tragedy is reimagined on the Tarragon stage through the powerful lens of rock and roll.
Mustard
Extraspace
written by Kat Sandler
directed by Ashlie Corcoran
set and costume designer, Michael Gianfrancesco
lighting designer, Graeme S. Thomson
sound designer, Christopher Stanton
featuring: Anand Rajaram, Sarah Dodd, Rebecca Liddiard, Travis Seetoo, Conrad Coates, Tony Nappo
January 3-28, 2018 (Opens January 4, 2018)
Mustard is a twisted fairy tale about an imaginary friend’s quest to stay in our world; a whimsical story about growing up, losing innocence and our unrelenting quest for love.
2016 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Production & Outstanding Performance (Anand Rajaram).
Cottagers and Indians
Extraspace
written by Drew Hayden Taylor
directed by Patti Shaughnessy
set designer, Robin Fisher
costume designer, Sage Paul
featuring: Herbie Barnes, Tracey Hoyt
February 13 – March 25, 2018 (Opens February 21, 2018)
Cottagers and Indians takes a sincere and pragmatic look at conflicts between native traditional water usage and property owners up in cottage country who are looking to enjoy an undisturbed summer getaway.
Bunny
Mainspace
written by Hannah Moscovitch
directed by Sarah Garton Stanley
set and costume designer, Michael Gianfrancesco
sound designer, Alexander MacSween
lighting designer, Kimberly Purtell
stage manager, Sandy Plunkett
apprentice stage manager, Katherine Belyea
featuring: Maev Beaty, Cyrus Lane, Matthew Edison, Gabriella Albino, Tony Ofori, Jesse LaVercombe
February 21 – April 1, 2018 (Opens February 28, 2018)
Aroused by inappropriate love, a young woman discovers the power of her own allure. Ever the outsider, she struggles with the social acceptable only to find herself increasingly alone in her desires. Dangerous and disorienting, Bunny is a play about repressive social convention, personal inhibition and desire unleashed
Girls Like That
Mainspace
written by Evan Placey
directed by Esther Jun
choreographer, Alyssa Martin
set designer, Shannon Lea Doyle
costume designer, Ming Wong
lighting designer, Kaileigh Krysztofiak
sound designer, Miquelon Rodriguez
stage manager, Marinda de Beer
apprentice stage manager, Troy Taylor
featuring: Cynthia Hicks, Nadine Bhabha, Lucy Hill, Tess Benger, Rachel VanDuzer, Shakura Dickson, Allison Edwards-Crewe
Apr 17 – May 27, 2018 (Opens April 25, 2018)
A naked photo of Scarlett goes viral. Rumours spread across smartphones like wildfire and her reputation becomes toxic, threatening to shatter clique of girls she has grown up with. But how long can Scarlett remain silent? And why isn’t it the same for boys? Girls Like That is an explosive new play that explores the evolution of feminist consciousness and modern female friendships in the wake of advancing technology.
***
Tickets range from $22 - $60 and can be purchased online at www.tarragontheatre.com, or by phone at 416-531-1827. 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 will also be offering online rush tickets at varying discounts, 24h prior to the show. Both Rush ticket options are subject to availability.
Audiences are invited to venture Beyond the Stage with a regular Lecture Series, a Talkback Week for each production, Tarragon Tasting Nights hosted by local food and beverage companies every Friday night and other events and activities. Tarragon’s Workspace continues to grow as a centre for experimentation, exploration and extensive play development for Tarragon, independent artists, collectives and theatre companies.
For more information on Tarragon’s events and activities, visit www.tarragontheatre.com/calendar.
Twitter: @tarragontheatre
Facebook: Tarragon Theatre
Photo: Noah Reid as Hamlet. ©2017 Jim Ryce.
2017-12-06
Toronto: The Tarragon Theatre announces casting for its Winter/Spring 2018 productions