Inspired by Charles Spearin’s Juno award winning album, The Happiness Project and the work of Studs Terkel and Anna Deavere Smith, KARIE RICHARDS presents THE GHOST PROJECT. This is an engaging documentary theatre solo production based on a series of verbatim monologues crafted from the interviews of thirteen individuals who have experienced mysterious and ghostly encounters. THE GHOST PROJECT is written and performed by KARIE RICHARDS, with original direction by Jeff Culbert, original music by John Sheard, and production design by Glenn Davidson. On stage from January 21 to January 26 at The Theatre Centre.

Drawing on a diverse ensemble of mysterious experiences, THE GHOST PROJECT reflects on the boundaries that exist between the known and the unknown. Featuring thirteen unexpectedly funny, touching, strange, frightening, and tragic tales, this unique production draws on cross-generational, real-life events that spark a yearning to be connected to something beyond reality. 

THE GHOST PROJECT premiered at the 2018 Halifax Fringe Festival. Karie has since performed the show at the London Fringe Festival and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival in 2019 - where the show was included in CBC Manitoba’s list of Top Picks for the closing weekend of the festival - as well as the Nanaimo Fringe Festival, where the show was awarded “Pick of the Fringe.” 

“[T]he themes in THE GHOST PROJECT are deeply personal, and my (re)telling of these stories is an intimate experience,” writes Karie Richards. “If there is a unifying theme, I would offer up desire, our human desire to contemplate the mysteries of life, to be connected to something larger than ourselves, and not having to do so alone. The piece is neither an endorsement for, nor argument against the belief in life after death, or the existence of spirits in our midst, but rather seventy-five minutes of curious questioning.”  

KARIE RICHARDS (writer/performer) is a Toronto-based theatre creator and performer. She premiered her first solo show, Birdy, at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival before touring the show across Canada and receiving “Audience Favourite” at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Crapshoot!. She has also appeared in various short films, including Pop the Grapes, Person, Pride War, and Above the Knee (which was included in TIFF’s Top Ten Short Films of 2010). Karie can be seen in an episode of the Canadian television medical drama series Nurses, set to premiere on Global Television Network in 2020. 

JEFF CULBERT (original direction) is a Canadian director and performer. He has performed across Canada and the US with his own solo shows archy and mehitabel and The Donnelly Sideshow. He is also a founding member of the long-running series The Boneyard Man. In addition to The Ghost Project, Jeff directed Karie Richards’ first solo show Birdy. He also co-ordinated and directed for fifteen years for the annual Playwrights Cabaret at London’s Grand Theatre. 

GLENN DAVIDSON (production designer) has been designing sets and lighting in Canada and internationally for 40 years. He is a four-time designer with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Glenn’s work has garnered a Dora Mavor Moore award for Set Design, and another for Lighting Design. He is also a past recipient of the Pauline McGibbon award. JOHN SHEARD (original music) has been an active music producer and arranger since 1975. Best known as music director of Stuart Mclean’s Vinyl Café from 1997-2015, he has also worked with hundreds of artists including Olivia Newton-John, Celine Dion, Rita MacNeil, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, Dan Hill, Jim Brickman, and so many more. 

 
THE GHOST PROJECT


Writer and Performer: Karie Richards
Original Direction: Jeff Culbert
Production Designer: Glenn Davidson
Original Music: John Sheard

The Ontario Arts Council generously supported the development of this play.


Approximate running time: 75 minutes
When: Performances run from January 21 to January 26, 2020 at 7pm, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm
Opening Night: Tuesday, January 21, at 7pm
Where: The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ontario
Price: Tickets start at $18 for students, $20 for Arts Workers, and $30 Adult

TICKETS: 
To purchase tickets please visit theatrecentre.org or by phone at 416-538-0988 

Photo: Karie Richards.