Stage Door News

Toronto: Theatre/film hybrid “The Full Light of Day” opens Luminato June 7

Tuesday, May 14, 2019


Canadian Stage’s 18.19 season closes with the highly anticipated Toronto premiere of the provocative film theatre hybrid The Full Light of Day, co-presented with Luminato. Written by playwright/director Daniel Brooks and directed by Electric Company Theatre founding artist Kim Collier – both recipients of the prestigious Siminovitch prize among many other awards – this suspenseful and compelling family saga about an aging matriarch who must contend with her family’s corrupt legacy before she dies, is an exploration of greed, wealth, ambition, and capitalism and questions the things we do in order to flourish, and the drastic steps we must take in order to survive.

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Part theatre, part film, this gripping work blurs the boundaries of media and theatre by using 14 live- streaming cameras, state-of-the-art projections and film to create a rich visual experience that intimately connects the audience to the character’s and the swirling world of high finance and corporate intrigue.


With the pacing of a thriller, The Full Light of Day tells the story of Mary, the aging matriarch of a wealthy Canadian family. As the end of her life draws near, Mary refuses to continue to turn a blind eye towards the misdeeds that helped her family amass their great wealth. The story reflects on the tough moral choices facing Canadians today and forces the audience to confront the systematic corruption and ethical paradoxes that underline most of modern-day society. Does our ignorance also make us complicit?

“Other than the weather, real estate may well be our country’s most frequently discussed topic. In this work, we dive deep – and consider the consequences of a society obsessed with property and possession,” says director Kim Collier. “Consequently, it raises questions about the very nature of land ownership. How can we own land? Land owns us. It is us.”

Featuring some of Canada’s most dazzling and award-winning talent, The Full Light of Day cast includes: award-winning film and stage actress Gabrielle Rose (The Sweet Hereafter, Maudie, and the recent TIFF film Kingsway) plays the ailing Mary; Jim Mezon (an ensemble member of the Shaw Festival since 1980) plays the corrupt patriarch, Harold; Dean Paul Gibson (known to Vancouver audiences as a mainstay actor at Bard on the Beach) plays the arrogant, yet anxiety-prone David – one of Mary and Harold’s sons; Genie nominee Jillian Fargey plays the no-nonsense wife of David; Jonathon Young (star of the Olivier Award-winning Betroffenheit) plays Joey – another of Mary and Harold’s sons, whose mysterious disappearance fuels much of the work’s action.

“Canadian Stage is thrilled to be partnering with Luminato to present this moving and innovative production by two of Canada’s greatest theatre artists,” says Canadian Stage Artistic Director Brendan Healy. “Both Kim and Daniel have made important contributions to Canadian Stage’s legacy and to the practice of theatre in this country. The Full Light of Day is a significant addition to their body of work. I believe that audiences will be enchanted by the virtuosity of the staging and touched by the humanity of the story.”


THE FULL LIGHT OF DAY

Writer Daniel Brooks Director Kim Collier

An Electric Company Theatre Production in association with the
Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity and BMO
Co-Presented by Canadian Stage and Luminato, as part of the 2019 Luminato Festival

Bluma Appel Theatre – June 7-13, 2019

The Full Light of Day is on stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre June 7-13, 2019. Performances run Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 and 8 PM, Sunday at 2 PM, Tuesday and Thursday at 8 PM, and Wednesday and 1 and 8 PM.

Photo: Gabrielle Rose and Jim Mezon. © 2019 Don Lee.