FACTORY THEATRE is thrilled to welcome Marie Beath Badian back to the Mainspace this September with the return of The Waltz. Directed by Nina Lee Aquino, The Waltz is the sequel to Badian’s 2013 hit comedy play, Prairie Nurse, which was presented during FACTORY’s 2017/2018 Season. Starring Ericka Leobrera as Bea Klassen and Anthony Perpuse as Romeo Alvarez, The Waltz captured the hearts of theatre audiences last year. Performances run from September 6 – 17, 2023 (Opening Night, Thursday September 7 at 8:00PM) before touring to Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg, MB) November 14 – 26, 2023 and the Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa, ON) February 13 – 25, 2024.

It’s August 1993 and Romeo Alvarez is travelling across the country from Scarborough, Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia to attend University. Having been guilted by his mom into stopping to visit some of her old friends, Romeo makes a pit stop in rural Saskatchewan. His journey leads him to a remote cabin where his arrival is greeted by a suspicious Bea Klassen, whose history is serendipitously interwoven with his own, though neither of them knows it. It is here, on these doorsteps of a rustic cabin in North East Saskatchewan that two second-generation Filipino teenagers, spend one evening with a boom box under the magnificent Saskatchewan sky at dusk.

An unexpected juncture of hope, dreams and growing up, The Waltz explores whether any of us ever feel at home in the world.

“Love at first sight is total fiction” - Romeo, The Waltz

Tickets prices for The Waltz range from $20 – $80, and include a limited number of $0 tickets for every performance. Audiences are invited to select the ticket price option that works best for them to experience the show.

Masked performances with be the following performances: Saturday September 9 matinée, and Wednesday September 13 evening show.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Marie Beath Badian (she/her) – Playwright. Marie Beath Badian is a Filipino-Canadian writer and theatre maker based in Toronto. She is best known for her play Prairie Nurse, which was commissioned and premiered at the Blyth Festival Theatre in Blyth, Ontario in 2013. Since then it has been produced across the country to sold-out audiences and enthusiastic acclaim. It is published by Scirocco Drama. In 2018 it was adapted into a four-part audio play for the CBC Podcast PlayME.

In 2022, her play Common had a workshop and reading at The National Theatre Studio in London, UK. It was long-listed in the top 30 for The 2019 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – the U.K’s biggest national competition for playwriting. Her other plays include The Making of St. Jerome (Next Stage Theatre Festival, nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore Awards), Mind Over Matter (part of AutoShow, Convergence Theatre) and Novena (UnoFestival Victoria, Toronto Fringe Festival).

She was the Playwright-in-Residence at fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company, Project: Humanity and The Blyth Festival. Marie Beath has developed work in the playwright units of Cahoots Theatre Company, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre and the Banff Playwrights Lab.

Marie Beath has adapted work for CBC Radio Drama, written for CBC’s Outfront and was a writer for the CBC Gem series Topline.

UPCOMING: Marie Beath is working on the third play of the Prairie Nurse cycle: The Cottage Guest, commissioned by the Blyth Festival.

Nina Lee Aquino (she/her) – Director. With a string of firsts in Asian Canadian theatre, Nina was the founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Asian Canadian theatre company, organized the first Asian Canadian theatre conference, edited the first (2-volume) Asian Canadian play anthology, and co-edited the first (award-winning) book on Asian Canadian theatre. She was previously the Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre and Factory Theatre and is now the Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre. Awards for her work include the Ken McDougall Award, the Canada Council John Hirsch Prize, the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Margo Bindhart and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award, the Toronto Theatre Critics Awards for Best Director, and three Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Direction.

Ericka Leobrera (any pronouns) – Bea Klassen. E Ericka Leobrera (any pronouns) is Dora Award-winning, Philippine-born inter-disciplinary artist. Ericka as an actor, mover, and collaborator has developed new Canadian plays with Factory Theatre, Tarragon, fu-Gen, Theatre Passe Muraille, Nightwood, Theatre Direct, and Roseneath Theatre. Ericka is a 2020 honours graduate of Humber College’s Theatre Arts – Performance program where they trained in new work creation, devised and physical theatre and received the Distinguished Performer Award and Dean Scholarship.

Selected theatre performance credits: Italian Mime Suicide (dir. Adam Paolozza & Kari Pederson), TomorrowLove (dir. Christopher Stanton), Elektra (dir. Richard Greenblatt), Through the Bamboo (dir. Nina Lee Aquino), Odd Ones Out (dir, Herbie Barnes).

Anthony Perpuse (he/him) – Romeo Alvarez. Hi! I’m Tony, a Dora-nominated Toronto based Filipino-Canadian performer and I’m SO excited and honoured to be revisiting and touring The Waltz. My selected acting credits include Ollie in Storybook Search 2023 (Bad Hats), RJ in The Waltz (Factory Theatre), Emmett in Storybook Search 2022 (Bad Hats), RuDaGold in Orestes (Tarragon), Koyo/Kapre in Through the Bamboo (Fringe), Eli in Eraser (Riser Festival) and Jorge in Theory (Tarragon). Selected film credits include CBC’s Workin Moms and Save Me. My directing credits include An Utterly Stupid Indefensible Thing (Fringe), The Brothers Gentle (Fringe), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Wolf Manor) and Posthumous Friends (inspiraTO). I received training as a Factory Theatre Mechanical, graduated with a BFA from Ryerson Theatre School and received the Perry Schneiderman comedy award. I’m a very nice guy with a big heart and an even bigger smile so don’t be shy to say hello after the show! Thanks so much for coming!

FACTORY THEATRE PRESENTS THE RETURN OF

THE WALTZ

Written by: Marie Beath Badian

Directed by: Nina Lee Aquino

Starring: Ericka Leobrera and Anthony Perpuse

Set and Costume Design: Jackie Chau

Lighting Design: Michelle Ramsay

Sound Design & Composition: Lyon Smith

Dramaturge: Matt McGeachy

Choreography: Andrea Mapili

Production Manager: Courtney Pyke

Stage Manager: Sandi Becker

When: September 6 – 17, 2023

Opening Night: Thursday September 7, 2023 at 8:00PM

Where: Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2R2

Price: Sliding Scale, ticket prices range from $20-$80 with limited $0 tickets for every show. To purchase tickets, please

www.factorytheatre.ca