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Play Selection Committee Shortlist
Theatre Windsor 2012/2013 Playbill
Theatre Windsor 26th Season -- 2012/2013 Playbill
1. The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney – Directed by Jacqueline Tinus
Human Interest – 6 Actors: 3M, 3W (open ages) September 6-9, 13-16, 2012
The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions. The action is comprised of a mosaic of interrelated scenes – some funny, some touching, some rueful – which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing species: the upper-middle-class WASP. The actors change roles, personalities and ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids. Each vignette introduces a new set of people and events. Dovetailing swiftly and smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of exceptional range, compassionate humour and abundant humanity.
2. Waiting For the Parade by John Murrell – Directed by Dean Valentino
Drama – 5 Characters: 5W October 25-28 and November 1-4, 2012
A drama that is episodic in structure – 24 scenes presenting vignettes often accompanied by music. In the play five Calgary women respond very differently to civilian life during WWII – they form an uneasy alliance born of loneliness and tumult during an edgy wait for the parade that will herald the end. Catherine is abandoned by her impulsively enlisted husband, Janet is a wartime dynamo compensating for a secret shame, and Eve is a pacifist school-teacher. Fatalist Margaret has one enlisted son and one arrested for protesting. Marta, a German-born Canadian citizen, becomes a target of harassment and suspicion in her own community while her senile, Nazi-sympathizing father idles in prison. This bittersweet drama shows the isolation and loss of those left behind as their loved ones are in the midst of the war overseas.
3. The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge by Mark Brown – Directed by Sue Cousins
Holiday Comedy – Cast of 8 OR 13 Characters: 6M, 2W OR 8M, 5W
December 6-9, 13-16, 2012
The Trial of the Century! A year after his miraculous transformation, Ebenezer Scrooge is back to his old ways and is suing Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future for breaking and entering, kidnapping, slander, pain and suffering, attempted murder and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. The ghosts employ Solomon Rothschild, England 's most charismatic, savvy, and clever barrister. Scrooge, that old penny pincher, represents himself. One by one, Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's nephew Fred, solicitor and philanthropist Sara Anne Wainwright, and the ghosts themselves take the witness stand to give their account of the night in question. But the Spirit of Christmas Future breaks down under heavy questioning and confesses that Jacob Marley forced the spirits to break one of the rules of redemption: Do not use a dead body to scare someone into redemption, for the consequences could prove fatal. Judge Stanchfield Pearson gives his verdict: Jacob Marley and the Spirits of Christmas, guilty!
4. Rumors by Neil Simon – Directed by Rob Schinbein
Farce – 10 Characters: 5M, 5W January 24-27, 31 and February 1-3, 2013
At a large, tastefully appointed Sneden’s Landing townhouse, the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. Though only a flesh wound, four couples are about to experience a severe attack of Farce. Gathering for their tenth wedding anniversary, the host lies bleeding in the other room and his wife is nowhere in sight. His lawyer, Ken and wife Chris must get “the story” straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions and miscommunications mount, the evening spins off into classic farcical hilarity.
5. David and Lisa by James Reach – Directed by Gil Percy
Drama – 22 Characters: 11M, 11W (including teens) March 7-10, 14-17, 2013
This play tells the story of two mentally disturbed adolescents: David, the only son of wealthy parents who is tortured by his mania against being touched, and Lisa, the waif with a split personality. One of her selves will speak only in childish rhymes and insists on being spoken to in the same manner. The play follows their exhilarating progress and heartrending defeats during one term at Berkeley School , where they have come under the sympathetic guidance of psychiatrist Alan Swinford and his staff. Fellow students include Carlos, the street urchin; the over romantic Kate and stout Sandra, among others. Laughter, heart break and suspense distinguish this authentic and well told story.
6. Bug by Tracy Letts – Directed by Jeffery Douglas Allen Bastien
Dark Comedy – 5 Characters: 3M, 2W April 25-28 and May 2-5, 2013
Most of the play takes place in a seedy motel room. Lonely cocktail waitress Agnes lives there, hiding from her violent ex-con ex-husband Jerry Goss. One night, her lesbian biker friend R.C. introduces her to Peter, a Gulf War veteran who might be AWOL. She gets involved with Peter, who grows increasingly paranoid about the war in Iraq , UFOs, the Oklahoma City bombing, cult suicides, and then secret government experiments on soldiers – eventually drawing Agnes into his delusions. The play deals with the issues of love, paranoia, conspiracy theories, and Agnes’ slow descent into insanity under Peter’s influence.
7. Trying by Joanna McClelland Glass – Directed by Niki Richardson
Drama – 2 Characters: 1M, 1W June 6-9, 13-16, 2013
Trying is a two-character play based on the author's experience during 1967-1968 when she worked for Francis Biddle at his home in Washington , D.C. Judge Biddle had been Attorney General of the United States under Franklin Roosevelt. After the war, President Truman named him Chief Judge of the American Military Tribunal at Nuremberg . The play is about a young Canadian girl and an old, Philadelphia aristocrat, "trying" to understand each other in what Biddle knows is the final year of his life.
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