NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley Shines a Light on the Stories for the 2015/16 Season. Important Stories. Canadian Stories. Our Stories.
News Release
NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley Shines a Light on the Stories for the 2015/16 Season.
Important Stories. Canadian Stories. Our Stories.
March 31, 2015 – OTTAWA (Canada) – Theatre. Humanity. Canada. These three words helped NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley shape the stories of the 2015/16 English Theatre season.
“I believe that theatre reflects our humanity,” said Ms Keiley. “I believe that audiences use their imaginations to live in a story on stage, in the same way that theatre-makers use their imaginations to create that story for us.”
Today in the NAC Fourth Stage in front of a live audience, Ms Keiley enlisted the help of St. John’s pal Allan Hawco (TV's Republic of Doyle) for a fun and open conversation about the creation of the season and her joy of storytelling.
Over the course of their lively exchange, Ms. Keiley, with Mr. Hawco’s assistance, unveiled the ten productions and presentations that will make up the 2015/16 Theatre, Studio and Family Series, and introduced the ten-member 2015/16 Ensemble from across the country.
“Theatre is the best way in the world to share our stories and this season is full of the kinds of stories that invite our audience to recognize the deep and complex truths of being human, of being a part of these times, and of being Canadian,” said Ms Keiley. “The performers on stage love to tell these stories. This is a season that makes me proud to be Canadian, proud to work in Canadian Theatre and proud to bring it to you.”
Over the past three seasons, Ms. Keiley and Associate Artistic Director Sarah Garton Stanley have worked tirelessly to bring together the most outstanding productions and artists from across the Canadian theatre landscape. This season, which features musicals, comedies, dramas and Shakespeare, they have once again delivered a line-up befitting the national stage.
ABOUT THE 2015/16 SEASON
The Theatre Series will launch with three works featuring the 2015/16 Ensemble, starting with Djanet Sears’ The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God, a co-production with Centaur Theatre and in association with Black Theatre Workshop (Montreal), directed by Ms. Sears. This will be followed by a special holiday production of Anne & Gilbert, a musical sequel to the ever-popular Anne of Green Gables. Ms Keiley will then direct an inventive production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, as imagined by Calgary’s Old Trout Puppet Workshop. The excitement continues as Rick Miller’s one-man smash hit BOOM hits the stage and the series wraps up with a rocking English-language adaption, Belles Soeurs: The Musical, a huge hit in Montreal based on the Michel Tremblay classic.
The Studio Series delivers dramatic storytelling as members of the 2015/16 Ensemble take on Colleen Murphy’s The December Man (L’homme de décembre), directed by Ms Stanley. The series also features a powerful work out of Australia, Jack Charles V The Crown, and closes with an Ottawa production of Jordan Tannahill’s much lauded Concord Floral.
The Family Series includes Anne & Gilbert along with two very special productions for children: Mieko Ouchi’s I Am For You, featuring the 2015/16 Ensemble, and Snow Angel from Quest Theatre (Calgary).
THE 2015/16 ENGLISH THEATRE ENSEMBLE
Ms Keiley and Ms Stanley have once again brought together some of the finest artists in Canada for the 2015/16 Ensemble. These artists represent the best of what is happening in Canadian theatre at this moment, and help determine the stories of the season.
“Each member of the 2015/16 Ensemble have proven themselves capable of a deep understanding of human nature: what makes us hurt, what makes us laugh, and what makes us see the humanity in others,” said Ms Keiley. “The plays in the season reflect the same depth of heart.”
Introducing the artists from Vancouver to St. John’s who will make up the 2015/16 Ensemble: Quincy Armorer (Montreal, QC); Janelle Cooper (Calgary, AB); Lucinda Davis (Montreal, QC); Bruce Dow (Toronto, ON); Kayvon Kelly (Vancouver, BC); Tristan D. Lalla (Montreal, QC); Amanda Leblanc (Lakelands, NS); Paula-Jean Prudat (Toronto, ON); Paul Rainville (Ottawa, ON); and Alison Woolridge (St. John’s, NL). From September through February, The Ensemble will be involved in five separate productions in all three series, including a co-production in Montreal.
YOUR NATIONAL THEATRE ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Along with programming a ten-show season that celebrates the now of Canadian Theatre’s excellence and ingenuity, NAC English Theatre is building Canadian Theatre together with artists and audiences in every province and territory. Moving closer to its aim to serve as the most collaborative organization in Canada’s theatre community, 2015/16 includes partnered productions at venues in Whitehorse, YK, Edmonton, AB, Winnipeg, MB, Montreal, QC, and Charlottetown, PEI, along with collaborations in Vancouver, BC, Edmonton, Saskatoon, SK, Toronto, ON, Montreal, Fredericton, NB, Halifax, NS, Charlottetown, and St. John’s, NL. The Collaborations is a unique partnership with theatre companies and artists across Canada that places different components of English Theatre resources in the hands of artists who are launching their own work, or honing their own shows, in various parts of Canada.
Back at the NAC’s Ottawa homebase, BC-based playwright Margo Kane’s seminal work Moonlodge will be revisited after a 20-year hiatus by Director Corey Payette and 2015/16 Ensemble member Paula-Jean Prudat, to be performed in a workshop production in February 2016 on the NAC’s Fourth Stage.
“As we enter our fourth season, Jillian Keiley and I continue to be inspired by the theatrical imaginations sparking new stories in every corner of this vast land,” said Ms Stanley. “We tether to the future by building relationships to artists and projects across Canada and collaborating on the exciting work this country has to offer.”
NAC English Theatre is proud to be contributing to the development and growth of new Canadian works and ideas for the stage.
NAC ENGLISH THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JILLIAN KEILEY
Ms. Keiley recently directed The Colony Unrequited Dreams, an Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland production in St. John’s, NL, developed and supported through The Collaborations. Immediately following today’s announcement, she’ll be heading back to Stratford to continue rehearsals for The Diary of Anne Frank, which opens this May at the Stratford Festival. She then travels to Charlottetown to begin rehearsals on the third production of Alice Through the Looking-Glass, with subsequent productions at Winnipeg’s Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre.
Ms. Keiley has created a season that once again delivers the best stories from across Canada to the NAC Stage.
2015/16 NAC ENGLISH THEATRE SUBSCRIPTIONS
- World-class theatre packages starting at $20 per play.
- Subscribers save 20% or more off regular ticket prices.
- Subscribe online by April 24th and save an additional 5% at nac-cna.ca/englishtheatre
NAC English Theatre and The National Arts Centre Foundation extend a warm thank you to Dr. Kanta Marwah for establishing the Dr. Kanta Warwah Endowment for English Theatre and the members of the NAC Foundation Donors’ Circle and Corporate Club who generously support English Theatre at the National Arts Centre and the National Youth and Education Trust. A special thank you to the Embassy Hotel & Suites, the Official Hotel of NAC English Theatre, the Ottawa Citizen, Media Partner. A thank you also to the Government of Canada for its support.
-30-
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS, PLEASE CONTACT:
|