≈ 100 minutes · No intermission
Last updated: February 6, 2024
Program Notes
How do text messages and a Charles Dickens classic from 1838 connect in the modern era? In this reimagining of Oliver Twist, TWISTED follows Ollie and Nancy, roles reprised by the show’s playwrights Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman and Joseph Jomo Pierre, as they navigate the gritty streets of Toronto. Finding solace in each other despite their turbulent upbringings surrounded by abuse and addiction, they forge a powerful bond through text messages that combine Ollie’s poetic, lyrical verses and Nancy’s powerful prose. As their connection grows, they plan a dangerous escape for a better life. Equal parts Dickens and Drake, Twisted takes cues from the original work to craft a vivid story of disenfranchised youth in Toronto.
Copies of Twisted may be purchased through Playwrights Canada Press: https://www.playwrightscanada.com/Books/T/Twisted
Artists
Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman is a Dora Award winning and two time Governor General nominated playwright and screenwriter. Winner of The Herman Voaden Award, and The K.M. Hunter Artist Award. Graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada. Selected theatre credits: The End of Pretending (Summerworks, TPM) Scratch (Factory Theatre, La Licorne, Theatre Plexus, Off-Broadway Players). Sudden Death, (Next Stage, Pyretic Productions), Twisted with Joseph Jomo Pierre (Factory Theatre). Guarded Girls (Tarragon Theatre, Green Light Arts). Directed, co-created: Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show (Architect Theatre, TPM). Must recently she created the solo show Want Now directed by Nina Lee Aquino (Factory Theatre, as part of Year of the Rat). And wrote the book for the new musical, Almost a Full Moon (Citadel Theatre) based on Hawksely Workman’s album of the same name.
Trinidadian born, Scarborough raised, Joseph is an accomplished playwright and actor. He is a graduate of York University with an Honours BFA in acting. He was a Governor General Awards Finalist for his play Shakespeare’s Nigga. A recipient of the K.M Hunter award Joseph has either held a playwrighting residency or was a member of a playwrights group at some of the most influential theatres in Toronto. These include Factory Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Can-stage and Obsidian Theatre. Published work include Shakespeare’s Nigga, Beatdown (Three plays by Joseph Jomo Pierre) and Twisted, all published through Playwrights Canada Press. In film he served as a Consulting Director for Empz 4 Life the last documentary by Canadian icon Allan King. Recently his latest project Builders of Nations was streamed on CBC Gem.
Nina Lee Aquino is an award-winning Filipino-Canadian director and dramaturg who has tirelessly advocated for the representation and flourishing of IBPoC voices in Canadian theatre. She was the Founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company and former Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre. She has directed world premieres and revivals at theatres across the country and has won a multitude of awards including the Ken McDougall Award, the Canada Council for the Arts John Hirsch Prize, the Margo Bindhart and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award, as well as a Toronto Theatre Critics Award and Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction for School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Obsidian Theatre), in addition to two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Sultans of the Street (Young People’s Theatre) and paper SERIES (Cahoots Theatre). During her tenure, Factory cemented its reputation as a national leader for the development of new work and emerged as a leading training ground for the next generation of diverse Canadian theatre creators.
In addition to serving as the Founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Asian Canadian theatre company, Nina Lee Aquino is credited with a string of firsts in Asian Canadian theatre: she organized the first Asian Canadian theatre conference; she edited the first (two-volume) Asian Canadian play anthology, and she co-edited the first (award-winning) book on Asian Canadian theatre.
Nina Lee Aquino is currently President of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.
Over 10 seasons at Factory Theatre, Nina programmed world premiere and Toronto premiere productions from playwrights such as David Yee, Anusree Roy, Marjorie Chan, Yvette Nolan, Kat Sandler, and Jeff Ho, among others; programmed bold and imaginative re-interpretations of classic Canadian plays from Judith Thompson, Colleen Wagner, David French, Linda Griffiths, Daniel MacIvor, Anosh Irani, and Claudia Dey. She fostered relationships with some of the best theatre companies from across the country and brought their productions to Factory Theatre.
Following the March 2020 pandemic shutdown, Nina fully embraced the new digital theatre medium, commissioning and directing new digital and audio theatrical works at Factory and with post-secondary institutions and festivals. Notable digital works include House: The Isolation Version by Daniel MacIvor (Factory Theatre), acts of faith by David Yee (Factory Theatre), Defined by Bone by Mayumi Lashbrook (CanAsian Dance), rabbit hole by David Yee (Ryerson University), and You Can’t Get There From Here, an audio drama series (Factory Theatre).
Nina Lee Aquino co-wrote Miss Orient(ed) and her monologues have been published in Beyond the Pale (edited by Yvette Nolan) and She Speaks (edited by Judith Thompson).
Nina has taught and directed at educational institutions such as Humber College, University of Guelph, University of Toronto Mississauga-Sheridan College, Ryerson University, York University, and the National Theatre School. She is an honorary member of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research and was recently appointed Adjunct Professor at York University’s Department of Theatre. Her leadership has extended into mentoring theatre students and emerging artists. She was also the 2019 winner of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Margo Bindhart.
Michelle Ramsay is an award-winning lighting designer for dance, theatre and opera. Previous designs include: The Waltz (Factory Theatre); Women of the Fur Trade (Stratford Festival); Little Shop of Horrors (Capitol Theatre); Beautiful (Arts Club); Redbone Coonhound (Tarragon Theatre/Imago Theatre); Martyr (ARC); The First Stone (New Harlem); The Doctors Dilemma (Shaw Festival); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Rusticle).
Michelle has received eight Dora Awards, a SATAward, the 2008 Pauline McGibbon Award, and was a finalist for the 2021 Siminovitch Prize. She is on the Board of the Associated Designers of Canada.
Richard Lee is an award winning theatre artist and film maker. His work has garnered him multiple Dora Mavor Moore nominations out of which he has received three. His play Monday Nights (an interactive and immersive basketball show), has recently toured to PuSH International Performing Arts Festival, after a successful run at Toronto’s Luminato Festival. Richard is an advocate of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the arts and works tireless for a better more thoughtful tomorrow.
Akeem Oh is a American-Canadian singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer primarily based in Toronto Canada. His work stretches across multiple creative industries such as music, film and theatre. His singles "Winter Crush" and "School Girl" were released to critical acclaim, with CBC naming the former one of the "Top 3 New Ontario Songs You Need To Hear“. The main focus for Oh has been shows, including sold out shows at Ottawa's National Arts Centre in 2022 and at the infamous Club SAW in 2023. He’ll be releasing new music in early 2024.
Jackie McCormick has been proud to call Ottawa home since 2014. She was most recently the Stage Manager for The Supine Cobbler at Great Canadian Theatre Company, where she was also the SM for The Unplugging earlier this year. Jackie has been on the Stage Management Team for over 40 productions at Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg, Ontario, being the Stage Manager for Buying the Farm and Moving In this past Summer. Jackie has been fortunate to Stage Manage shows in Alberta, New Brunswick, and throughout Ontario since graduating from (recently renamed) Toronto Metropolitan University in 2005. Thank you and much love to her family: J, Q & B.
Company
Creator/Performer
Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman
Creator/Performer
Joseph Jomo Pierre
Director
Nina Lee Aquino
Lighting Designer
Michelle Ramsay
Sound Designer
Richard Lee
Stage Manager
Jackie McCormick
NAC Production Team - Fourth Stage Team
Lead Hand
Adriaanus Vanduyvenbode
Assistant Lead Hand
Jeremy Wynnyk
Technical Director
Peter Kealey
Projectionists, Wardrobe Mistresses, Masters and Attendants are members of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 471.
The National Arts Centre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association
NAC English Theatre Team
Managing Director
David Abel
Artistic Director
Nina Lee Aquino
Senior Engagement Strategist, Community & Partnerships
Rose-Ingrid Benjamin
Learning Coordinator
Aimee Bouchard
ASL Interpreter Consultant
Carmelle Cachero
Marketing Strategist
Bar Clement
Communications Strategist
Sean Fitzpatrick
Senior Producer
Alexandra Lunney
Senior Marketing Manager
Bridget Mooney
Associate Producer, Artistic Programming and Environmental Projects
Judi Pearl
Company Manager
Samira Rose
Administrative Coordinator
Monika Seiler
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Lead Donor
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Official Hotel Sponsor
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INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THEATRICAL STAGE EMPLOYEES
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees