NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley Celebrates Stories in the 2016/17 Season. Collaborations an Important Development Tool in Building the Upcoming Season
News Release
NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley Celebrates Stories in the 2016/17 Season.
Collaborations an Important Development Tool in Building the Upcoming Season
April 4, 2016 – OTTAWA (Canada) – National Arts Centre English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley is passionate about the theatre and storytelling, especially when the stories in question are Canadian. During an entertaining presentation this afternoon in the NAC Studio, Ms Keiley described how this passion helped plant the seeds for the 2016/17 English Theatre season.
To introduce the season line-up to a capacity crowd, Ms Keiley enlisted the help of Rick Mercer, whose enthusiasm for sharing Canadian stories rivals her own. Over the course of their lively exchange, Ms Keiley and Mr Mercer not only traded stories, but also invited members of the audience to the stage to do the same. Ms Keiley then used those true stories as a springboard to present the programming for the upcoming English Theatre season.
“The purpose of storytelling is to help us understand each other and the world,” said Ms Keiley. “Because theatre is a local event – it happens just for you, only in that moment – it deepens the impact of the storytelling. Incorporating stories that happen in our own country further extends their capacity to help us better understand ourselves.”
The eight-play season features co-productions and presentations from companies across Canada, as well as a new take on a holiday classic. A highlight of the announcement was the fact that the 2016/17 season sees three productions which were developed with support from English Theatre’s play development program, The Collaborations, land on our national stage. The Collaborations is a vehicle through which Ms Keiley and Associate Artistic Director Sarah Garton Stanley have worked tirelessly over the past four seasons to offer artistic, financial and dramaturgical support in the development of new Canadian work with artists and companies across the country.
"One of the things Sarah and I started at the beginning of our tenure at the NAC was The Collaborations - the goal was to invest in pieces happening across the country,” explained Ms Keiley. “Four years later, three of these productions have now had really successful runs in the places they were made. We loved these shows too, and we are really proud to show the results of these Collaborations on the NAC stage.”
On top of that, Ms Keiley announced that the English Theatre Ensemble will take to the road to help celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial, as the hit 2013 production of Tartuffe, adapted by comedian Andy Jones, will tour Newfoundland and Labrador in 2017.
These exceptional dramatic, musical and comedic stories shine a light on the amazing work that is being created across the country.
ABOUT THE 2016/17 SEASON
The Theatre Series kicks off the season with Trey Anthony’s hilarious ‘da Kink in My Hair, a co-production with Theatre Calgary directed by Marion J. Caffey. This will be followed by a special holiday production of A Christmas Carol directed by Ms Keiley, featuring an array of artists from across the NAC’s worlds of music, theatre and dance and starring the one-and-only Andy Jones in the role of Scrooge. The next three productions arrive on the national stage by way of partnerships with The Collaborations, beginning with Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland’s take on the crusade of Joey Smallwood to bring Newfoundland into Confederation in The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Robert Chafe. The series continues with a look at Ontario’s notorious Donnelly family in Jonathan Christenson’s electrifying rock musical Vigilante from Catalyst Theatre in Edmonton, and closes with Corey Payette’s powerful musical Children of God, celebrating the resilience and power of the Indigenous cultural spirit, a production from Vancouver’s Raven Theatre, in association with Urban Ink Productions and the Cultch.
The Studio Series delivers dramatic storytelling beginning with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre’s Empire of the Son, written and performed by actor, comedian and CBC radio broadcaster Tetsuro Shigematsu. Next up is the NAC debut of Ottawa-born playwright Hannah Moscovitch, the recent winner of the Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prize, with her play Infinity in an elegant production from Toronto’s Volcano Theatre. The Studio Series wraps up with Brad Fraser’s critically-acclaimed Kill Me Now, directed by Ms Stanley and produced in collaboration with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
YOUR NATIONAL THEATRE ACROSS THE COUNTRY – THE COLLABORATIONS
The NAC is propelled by the idea that all of Canada is our stage. The Collaborations responds by partnering with theatre companies from across Canada, placing English Theatre resources into the hands of creators who are developing and premiering work in their home communities, and refining the work in venues across Canada and abroad.
As noted in the Theatre Series, a number of shows supported through The Collaborations are making their way to the NAC in 2016/17. Equally, there is a growing list of great work in development through The Collaborations happening in Whitehorse, YK, Vancouver, BC, Meachum, SK, Toronto, ON, Picton, ON, Collingwood, ON, Montreal, QC, Halifax, NS, and St. John’s, NL, as well as overseas in Cardiff, Wales, Krakow, Poland and Sydney, Australia. The Collaborations also supports the one-of-a kind, nationally driven digital theatrical space SpiderWebShow.ca, a collaboration between Neworld Theatre (Vancouver), Praxis Theatre (Toronto), Alberta Theatre Projects (Calgary) and NAC English Theatre.
“As we enter our fourth season, we are so excited for Ottawa to see some of the tremendous work we have been collaborating on,” said Ms Stanley. “The work is so exciting, and showcases the staggering imaginations and talents of this country”.
NAC English Theatre is proud to be contributing to the development and growth of new Canadian works and ideas for the stage.
TARTUFFE 2017 TOUR
The NAC English Theatre Ensemble on Tour
Newfoundland and Labrador, 2017
Tartuffe
By Molière
An adaptation by Andy Jones
Directed by Jillian Keiley
As part of Canada’s 2017 sesquicentennial celebrations, the National Arts Centre will take one of English Theatre’s most popular recent productions, Tartuffe adapted by east-coast comedy genius Andy Jones, back from whence it came! Molière’s classic, performed by members of the 2013-14 English Theatre Ensemble, is re-imagined with a healthy sprinkling of Newfoundland charm.
In addition to performances around Newfoundland and Labrador, there will be a robust education program with activities linking youth and artists from coast to coast to coast, with theatricality at its heart.
Detailed information regarding the tour will be announced later in the year.
NAC ENGLISH THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JILLIAN KEILEY
Ms Keiley continues to be one of the busiest artists in Canadian theatre, recently directing a fifth production of Alice Through the Looking-Glass, at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, following productions in Stratford, Charlottetown, Winnipeg and in Ottawa at the NAC. This spring, Ms Keiley returns to Stratford where she is directing a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It set in her home province of Newfoundland, opening June 3 at Stratford’s Festival Theatre.
Ms Keiley has created a season that once again delivers the best stories from across Canada to the national stage.
2016/17 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 Marwah Endowment for English Theatre. Special thanks to the members of the NAC Foundation Donors’ Circle and Corporate Circle who generously support English Theatre at the National Arts Centre and the National Youth and Education Trust. The Offical Hotel Partner of NAC English Theatre, the Extended Stay Canada, , the Ottawa Citizen, Media Partner, Sun Life Financial, presenting partner of the NAC’s Share the Spirit program and Via Rail, Official Rail Partner. A thank you also to the Government of Canada for its support.
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