In Shelagh Stephenson's award-winning dark comedy, three sisters gather in their mother's house to arrange her funeral. Together, these women (neurotic health food store owner Teresa; Mary, a successful doctor; vulnerable wild-child Catherine; and, not to be left out, the ghost of the mother herself) battle it out using humour, alcohol and their grief to patch together a shared memory of the past. The Memory of Water won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2000 and in a 2004 review, a critic rightly commented, “[Stephenson] unerringly reveals the many ways in which death uncovers the absurd in life.”
Helming this production is Alumnae veteran Barbara Larose, director of such past critical hits as The Real World? and Lady Windermere's Fan. She was drawn to the script because, as she says “Like most of life's really big moments, the piece is wonderfully funny, moving and achingly sad. The play is essentially a character driven story of a dysfunctional family written with intense emotion and sometimes macabre humour [and] I love the exploration of memory in the play - the notion that we both reinvent the past and are haunted by it.”
Olivier Award for Best Comedy - 2000
Performance Dates
September 28 & 29
October 4, 5, 6. 7, 11, 12, & 13, 2007
Performance Times
Thursday to Saturday: 8:00 pm
Sunday Matinee: 2:00 pm
Box Office opens one hour before performance time
Admission Prices
Friday & Saturday: $18
Sunday Matinee: PWYC
Thursdays: 2 FOR 1
CASH ONLY! Box Office does not accept credit or debit cards
Reservations
Email: reservations@alumnaetheatre.com
Phone: 416-364-4170 (Box 1)
PAUL BABIAK,
Vocal & Stage Combat Coach
Paul Babiak is an actor, director, playwright and theatre scholar. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, University of Toronto.
ANDREW BATTEN,
Actor (Mike)
At a young age, Andrew dreamed of a life on stage, but an unfortunate incident involving a large trout, some ski wax and a surly mime kept him from fulfilling that dream until later in life. Andrew is happy to return to the Alum stage after appearing in last year's production of Lady Windermere's Fan.Thank you to a dedicated and professional crew, and a very lovely cast. Thank you to Debbie for her patience and understanding regarding this nasty acting habit, and to the kids, Mike, Sarah and Eliot, whose behavioural issues resulting from their Dad's lengthy absences can only get better with time.
HILARY BLAIN,
Producer
This is Hilary's first show with Alumnae and her first time as a producer. She is excited about this opportunity to work with Alumnae Theatre.
KATE DOUVAN,
Costume Designer
Kate is an artist and designer who has been working in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto for the last twenty five years. A highlight of her costume design work was working with Dunya Ramicova on the premiere of the Philip Glass Opera The Voyage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The Memory of Water represents Kate's return to the theatre after a long hiatus. In the interim, she designed and built the first website for Fox Television (when it entailed explaining what a website was to studio executives); she then went on to be Art Director at The Wedding Channel, the first and preeminent online wedding website.
KATHERINE FITZGERALD,
Sound Designer
Katherine Fitzgerald is an award-winning sound editor and 25-year veteran of the film and TV industry, having worked on productions such as Degrassi TNG, Blue Murder, Wind at My Back, The Sleep Room, The Stork Derby and Arthur. She directed and sound designed Insane Uncle Leroy, New Ideas Festival 2007. She has also directed three short films and is working on her fourth. She is delighted to be doing the sound design for The Memory of Water and looks forward to continued involvement in theatre working with playwrights and actors.
CHANTALE GROULX,
Actor (Vi)
It was nothing but fun for Chantale at The Village Playhouse as Amanda in Noel Coward's Private Lives. Playing THE Queen and Christopher Marlowes Mum in last summers' Fringe hit It Was Kit was a blast. And she was last seen at the Alumnae as part of New Ideas Festival in Welcome to Naxos as the delightfully deceptive Medea. She is thrilled to bits to be among such good company in this touching play.
TABITHA KEAST,
Actor (Mary) + Marketing & Publicity
Tabitha is a Toronto-based actor with experience in theatre, commercials and voiceovers. Performance credits include Twelfth Night (Alchemy Theatre), Poking the Dead Cat (Trafalgar 24 / Driftwood Theatre), Homeward Bound (Alumnae Theatre), Possession (New Ideas Festival) and In the Booth (Toronto Fringe Festival). Production credits include Lady Windermere's Fan (Co-producer / Alumnae Theatre), Southern Belle (Director / New Ideas 05), and co-producing the 2006 New Ideas Festival (Alumnae Theatre). Media credits include the short film Leper for Dopedying Productions, voiceover work on the short film Karma as well as for WorldWide Television, and many commercials all of which share the common goal of feeding our rampant consumerism in which she apparently plays a supporting role.
BRANDON KLEIMAN,
Costume Designer
Brandon is glad to be working for the first time with Alumnae theatre this season. He is currently in his fourth year at York University studying theatre design. Some past design credits include Spare Change (2007 PlayGround Festival), 7 Stories (Ellen Green), Hosanna and Hamlet (York University). Brandon has spent the past summer working with The Canadian Stage Company as an apprentice stage manager for The 25th Anniversary Dream in High Park. Upcoming design credits include Rhinoceros (Madd Harrold) and The Christmas Story (Solar Stage Company). Brandon would like to thank his family and friends, as well as Ellen Green and Kate Douvan for this opportunity.
BARBARA LAROSE,
Director
Barbara Larose studied theatre at Concordia University in her home town of Montreal and has worked as an actor, director, dramaturge, and acting coach for many years. At the Alumnae Theatre, Barbara has previously directed Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig, the critical hit Michel Tremblay's The Real World? and, most recently, Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan. She has also indulged her interest in the development of new works and has directed Really Great Hats, The Poet's Wife, Time and Longings and The Meeting as well as the staged readings of Spitting Distance and Fast Track in successive New Ideas Festivals. Other directing credits include the critically acclaimed Toronto Fringe productions of Edward Albee's The American Dream for Fireplay Productions and Rick Jones' Millennium Madness Sale! for Thick & Thin Theatre, as well as the box-office hit Franca Miraglia's Life on a Diet for By the Word Productions.
DOUG ROBINSON,
Set Designer
Doug is a graduate of The National Theatre School and The Motley Theatre Design Course at The English National Opera. He began his careeras a props maker with The National ballet and moved on to design for Factory Theatre, YPT and Toronto Free Theatre. In 1975 he moved to Britain to study and design productions for The Dundee Rep and The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh. Doug returned to Canada in 1981 to resume working here and from 1989 to 2001 he was an assistant art director and draftsman working at the CBC, and on independent television and film productions. Doug's other theatre experience was as resident stage manager for the final 5 1/2 years of the 26 year run of the Toronto production of The Mousetrap. Doug's most recent design for Alumnae was the 2004 production of After You. He has recently designed shows for Theatre Aquarius, Magnus Theatre and The Showboat Festival in Port Colbourne.
ANDREA ROMALDI,
Actor (Catherine)
A director, dramaturg and sometime actor, Andrea is apprenticing in dramaturgy with Brian Quirt at Nightswimming, where she worked on Anosh Irani's Dora award-winning Bombay Black. Most recently, she dramaturged Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt's Conscientia for SummerWorks 2007 and Stephanie Alexander's Charters for SummerWorks 2006. Andrea also acted as producer and dramaturg for the Alumnae Theatre's New Ideas Festival in 2006 and 2007. It has been a long time since Andrea has been on stage! Her most recent credits include: Really Great Hats (New Ideas 2005), The Actor's Nightmare (Theatre Shmeatre) and Edmond (Players Theatre, Dublin). Currently, Andrea reads all unsolicited script submissions for the Shaw Festival.
ED ROSING,
Set Decorator
Ed Rosing, an English/Drama Major, received his BA at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He went on to study at Yale Drama School and completed his education at Central School in London, England. He has been learning ever since. This past year he has done lighting for If We Are Women, Lady Windermere's Fan (Alumnae Theatre), In Love's Kitchen (Abrams Studio Theatre), The Chekhov Vaudevilles (Robert Gill Theatre) and The Taming Of The Shrew (Dancemakers Theatre).
NANCY SHEPHERD,
Producer
This is Nancy's second show with Alumnae (her first was Lady Windermere's Fan) and her first as Producer. She takes heart from Steven Bocho's words: “I think that reluctance to arbitrarily impose my will on people ultimately made me a better producer.” Here's hoping!
DOROTHY WILSON,
Properties & Assistant Stage Manager
Dorothy just loves doing Props, especially in a show like this one, where there's such a variety of Props needed. Previous Props credits at the Alumnae include Summer and Smoke, The Real World?, She Stoops to Conquer and Lady Windermere's Fan. Thanks to Barbara, the cast and crew for being such a great group to work with.
ALUMNAE THEATRE COMPANY
70 Berkeley Street
Toronto, Ontario • M5A 2W6
Phone: 416-364-4170
Email: contactus@alumnaetheatre.com
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