Radical

​November 18 - 22, 2015

​Radical
​by Charles Hayter
November 18 - 22, 2015

The story of a forgotten Canadian hero, Dr. Vera Peters, and her fight to alter breast cancer treatment. Spurred on by patient outrage, memories of her mother’s suffering, and her own diagnosis of breast cancer, Peters embarks on a quest to find a gentler alternative to the mutilating radical mastectomy - and in the process sets the surgical world against her.

Charles Hayter (Playwright)
Charles spends his time writing plays and treating cancer. A medical graduate of Queen’s University, he has an MA in Drama from the University of Calgary. His one person show Lady-In-Waiting won the award for Best Writing: Solo Show at the Fresh Fruit Festival NYC 2008. Recent writing credits include: Eldorado Town – The Port Hope Play (4th Line Theatre) and Going In (Fresh Fruit Festival, NYC). Charles is a graduate of Tapestry Opera’s Lib-Lab program and a proud member of Playwrights’ Guild of Canada.

CAST

Rob Candy (Bernie)
Rob has performed in a number of productions for the Alumnae Theatre, including Blood Relations, The Lady's Not for Burning, The Killdeer, The Real Inspector Hound/After Magritte, and Delicate Balance, as well as in several New Ideas Festivals. Other performance credits include Mr Pim Passes By, Strictly Murder, Dangerous Obsession, The Price, Ravenscroft, The Heiress, The Winslow Boy (Village Players); The Glass Cage (Snowdrop Productions, in Alumnae Studio); Richard III, Midsummer Night's Dream (Hart House Theatre); Lysistrata, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It (Canopy Theatre); Piecing Together Pauline (2012 Fringe Festival); and Borrowed Time (film in production, Mind Refinery).

Helly Chester (Vera)
Trained at New York’s Hagen/Berghoff Studios, Helly has appeared on stage, film, and TV in NYC, Estonia, and Toronto.  Selected theatre credits:  Edna in Butley (The Courtyard Playhouse), Louise in The Channeller (Samuel Beckett Theatre), Jill in Orient Beach (American Playhouse Theatre), Mme Maute/Eugenie in Total Eclipse (TSP Studios), Beatrice in Servant of Two Masters (Columbus Centre Theatre), Mrs. Bradman in Blithe Spirit and Cissy in Quartet (Village Players), Nora in Escape from Happiness and Damienne in I am Marguerite (Alumnae Theatre), Dolly in Kitchen Witches (Bruce County Playhouse). Helly is honoured to be a part of this important new play.

Feerass Ellid (Frank)
Feerass is a recent graduate of the Drama program at Queen's University. He has appeared in productions done by the Drama department as well as various community and student run productions in Kingston, Ontario. Feerass is thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the FireWorks Festival and the cast of Radical.

Kelly-Marie Murtha (Rose)
Kelly-Marie Murtha, is a Toronto based actor and director. She starred in numerous award-winning films and also has numerous theatre credits. She has performed in numerous productions here at the Alumnae and this will be her second season with the Fireworks Festival!  Kelly-Marie’s first film Smart Work received glowing reviews for being her directorial debut, won the 2014 Royal Reel Award in the Canadian Film Competition at the Canada International Film Festival and was picked up for world-wide distribution by CinemaStar Productions LLC..   Her next major project teams her with Canadian actress Tonya Lee Williams in the short film You Can’t Eat Muffins on the Mississippi Under a Full Moon.  Kelly-Marie is a member of WIFT-T (https://www.wift.com), ACCT (http://www.academy.ca/Home), and an active member of We Make Movies Canada.

Anne Shepherd (Helen)
Anne is a working actor and psychiatrist. On stage she is best known for her controlling authoritarian roles such as Sister Aloysius in ‘Doubt’ (Bygone Theatre) and an aging opera diva in ‘Quartet’ (Village Playhouse).  She played a lesbian astronaut in NIF at the Alumnae Theatre, an alcoholic mother in the Inspirato Festival and a dementing senior in the Fringe show ‘Evacuate’.  She was in ‘State of Women’ recently at the Lower Ossington Theatre. Anne developed the role of Helen in the staged reading of ‘Radical’ for the NIF in 2014 and is delighted to reprise the role and work again with Charles and Neil. She is modelling her performance on her great Aunt Gertrude who was superintendent of nurses at the Riverdale Hospital, the same era of Dr. Peters.

"Behind the Curtains" Talk-Back Schedule
Wednesday after the show is the opening night party.
All other performances feature a "Behind the Curtains" talk-back right after the show.  Schedule below:​

Thurs Nov 19, 2015	Fri Nov 20, 2015	Sat Nov 21, 2015	Sun Nov 22, 2015
Directing: Neil Affleck, Ingryd Pleitez	Sound/Lighting Design: Gabrielle D’Angelo, Bill Scott	2 pm - Costume Design: Peter DeFreitas, Toni Hanson, Trish Worrall 8 pm - Set Design: Marysia Bucholc, Mark Cope	Playwright: Charles Hayter