Factory’s 49th season concludes with the Toronto premiere of BEAUTIFUL MAN, a searing satire written by Erin Shields, directed by Andrea Donaldson and featuring Ashley Botting, Mayko Nguyen, Sofía Rodrígues, and Jesse LaVercombe, May 4-26, 2019.

BEAUTIFUL MAN turns the tables on gender and power with the simple question, “What if men were the victims of objectification and marginalization rather than women?”

A trio of women are talking about the latest binge-worthy TV show; a police drama with a grizzled female veteran cop, who is also watching a TV show, with an Amazon Queen, who is watching a play…all depicting gradually increasing levels of violence toward men. It is horrifying. And even more so because it is the kind of violence usually reserved for women, and presented as entertainment for men.

Appropriately unsettling, BEAUTIFUL MAN proffers a beautiful man, to be gazed upon throughout the duration of the show, while simultaneously calling out misogyny, sexism, and abuse of power.

Erin Shields is a highly-acclaimed Montreal-based playwright and actor. She was the recipient of the 2011 Governor General’s Award for her play If We Were Birds, which premiered at Tarragon Theatre and has been widely produced and translated into French, German, Italian and Albanian. Erin also premiered The Millennial Malcontent and Soliciting Temptation at Tarragon. She has adapted Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea for The Shaw Festival, and Milton’s Paradise Lost for The Stratford Festival.

Director Andrea Donaldson was recently named the incoming Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, after serving for several years as Program Director of Write from The Hip, their script development program. Recent directing credits include: Lo (or Dear Mr. Wells, Quiver / Nightwood Theatre; Soliciting Temptation / Tarragon Theatre; The Atomic Weight of Happiness / Theatre Passe Muraille; Snowman / Soulpepper Academy; CLEAVE / National Theatre School; and Romeo & Juliet / Shakespeare in the Ruff.

The cast of exacting women features Ashley Botting as Jennifer, Mayko Nguyen as Sophie and Sofía Rodrígues as Pam, with Jesse LaVercombe as Beautiful Man.

BEAUTIFUL MAN, a dark, unapologetic, fiercely Feminist response to the systemic oppression and brutalization of women, runs May 4-26, 2019 with opening night on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 8pm.

FACTORY presents
BEAUTIFUL MAN
Written by Erin Shields
Directed by Andrea Donaldson
Starring Ashley Botting, Mayko Nguyen, Sofía Rodríguez, Jesse LaVercombe
Set Design by Gillian Gallow
Costume Design by Ming Wong
Lighting Design by Jason Hand
Sound Design by Richard Feren
Factory Mainspace, 125 Bathurst Street at Adelaide, Toronto
May 4-26, 2019
Opening Night: Thursday, May 9, 2019 @ 8pm
Tuesday – Saturday @ 8pm | Sunday @ 2pm
Ticket prices range from $40-$50 for regular performances
Student and Senior prices also available
For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit www.factorytheatre.ca,
phone 416.504.9971, or in person at the box office 125 Bathurst Street (at Adelaide)

Social Media
Twitter: @FactoryToronto • FB: @FactoryTheatreTO • IG: @FactoryTheatre
#ftBeautifulMan  #ftLastShowBefore50

Photo: Jesse LaVercombe in Model Wanted. © 2013 National Theatre School.