The Humans - Program

FEB 6 -25, 2018 BLUMA APPEL THEATRE

the humans BY

STEPHEN KARAM

A CANADIAN STAGE AND CITADEL THEATRE PRODUCTION

17.18 Season Sponsor

This production has been generously underwritten by Charles and Marilyn Baillie

cast

creative team

BRIGID BLAKE

D I R EC TO R

SARA FARB

JACKIE MAXWELL

AI M E E B L A K E

A S S I S TA NT D I R EC TO R

ALANA HAWLEY PURVIS

BRENLEY CHARKOW

R I C HA R D

S E T, P RO P S A N D COS T U M E D E S I G N E R

RICHARD LEE

JUDITH BOWDEN

DEIRDRE BLAKE

LI G HTI N G D E S I G N E R

LAURIE PATON

MICHAEL WALTON

ERIK BLAKE

SO U N D D E S I G N E R

RIC REID

MATTHEW SKOPYK

FI O N A “ M O M O ” B L A K E

S TAG E M A N AG E R

MARALYN RYAN

ANDREA SCHURMAN A S S I S TA NT S TAG E M A N AG E R

AL GADOWSKY

THIS PRODUCTION RUNS APPROXIMATELY 105 MINUTES, THERE IS NO INTERMISSION Please note the use of cameras and recording devices during performances is strictly prohibited. As a courtesy to artists and audiences, latecomers will be seated at an appropriate break in the performance, if possible.

The Original Broadway Production of The Humans was produced by Scott Rudin, Barry Diller, Roundabout Theatre Company, Fox Theatricals, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Roy Furman, Daryl Roth, Jon B. Platt, Eli Bush, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman, Amanda Lipitz, Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, Lauren Stein, and The Shubert Organization; Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson, executive producers.

Commissioned and Originally Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director; Harold Wolpert, Managing Director; Julia C. Levy, Executive Director; Sydney Beers, General Manager) The Humans had its world premiere in November 2014 at American Theater Company, Chicago, Illinois (PJ Paparelli, Artistic Director).

Media Sponsors

CONNECT

@canadianstage #csHumans

ENGAGE PRE-SHOW CHATS FRIDAY, FEB 9 & 16 @ 6:15PM

POST-SHOW TALKBACKS FEB 14 & 21 (MATINEE) @ 1 PM FEB 15 & 22 (EVENING) @ 8PM

cast & creative team Sara Farb

Alana Hawley Purvis

Richard Lee

Laurie Paton

Ric Reid

Maralyn Ryan

Jackie Maxwell

Brenley Charkow

Judith Bowden

Michael Walton

Matthew Skopyk

Andrea Schurman

Al Gadowsky

artistic & general director’s note

MATTHEW JOCELYN

A lot of ink, virtual and otherwise, has been spilled over Stephen Karam’s truly remarkable text, The Humans, and the seminal place it holds in this new era of cinematic realism in American theatre. And it’s true: this play like few others heralds a very different approach to theatrical story telling coming to us from south of the border.

First of all, The Humans is written in real time: the action covers slightly more than a hundred minutes of life in the Blake family, when grandmother, father, mother, two daughters and one boyfriend assemble to celebrate Thanksgiving.

What happens on stage during those hundred minutes, in infinitesimal detail, looks and feels like a synthesis of any and every family dinner each and every one of us has lived through over and over and over again, across years and throughout decades: a crystallization of domestic strife, love, incapacity, want, compassion, misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, up above, an intermittent thud sounds on the ceiling. And from time to time a mysterious shadow passes through the tiny courtyard.

Life is closing in, systems are shutting down, some kind of end is near.

Welcome to the polyphonic world of Stephen Karam, a world of untold humanity, humour and despair; theatre at its best.

Our thanks to Daryl Cloran and the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, and to this remarkable cast and artistic team, all led by our colleague and friend, Jackie Maxwell.

SARA FARB

Brigid Blake Five seasons at the Stratford Festival: Juliet, Anne Frank, Cordelia, Jessica in The Merchant of Venice, Petra in A Little Night Music, Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Constance in She Stoops to Conquer, Cherry in The Beaux’ Stratagem, and originated the role of Mary in Kate Hennig’s The Last Wife and The Virgin Trial. Elsewhere: The Last Wife (Soulpepper), The Secret Annex (Segal Centre), Next to Normal (Citadel/Theatre Calgary; Tarragon Theatre), R-EB-E-C-C-A (Theatre Passe Muraille - writer and star), book writer of Dora nominated He Is Coming for Musical Stage Company’s Reframed at the AGO. Next, she’ll be playing Medium Alison in Fun Home for Mirvish/Musical Stage Company. “To err is human.”

ALANA HAWLEY PURVIS

Aimee Blake Select theatre credits: Venus In Fur (Citadel); Blow Wind High Water (Theatre Calgary); Coriolanus (Shakespeare Theatre Company’s ACA); A Picasso, Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh (Shadow Theatre); Bartholomew Fair, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival); Much Ado About Nothing (UofA); I’ll Be Back Before Midnight (Vertigo); Closer (Ground Zero); Sequence (Downstage); Drama: A Pilot Episode (ATP); The Three Musketeers (Citadel); Joyful Noise (Theatre North West). Training: Academy for Classical Acting (MFA), Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Program, Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Acting (Stratford Festival), and the University of Alberta – BFA Acting.

RICHARD LEE

Richard Richard Lee is an award-winning Actor, Sound Designer, Fight Director and Theatre Maker. His work has garnered him multiple Dora Mavor Moore nominations out of which he has received three: one for his Sound Design work on paper SERIES (Cahoots Theatre Company) and two in performance; Sultans of the Street and Cinderella: A RATical Retelling (both for Young People’s Theatre). Selected theatre credits include: Twelfth Night, King Lear (SIHP - Canadian Stage); Kim’s Convenience (Soulpepper); acquiesce (The Factory Theatre); Chimerica (Canadian Stage/RMTC).

LAURIE PATON

Deirdre Blake Laurie is delighted to return to Canadian Stage in the role of Deirdre in The Humans. Born and raised in Alberta, she made her professional debut as Agnes in Edmonton in Northern Light Theatre’s Agnes Of God and in the Citadel Theatre’s productions of The Glass Menagerie, Mephisto, The Promise, and Peter Pan. Laurie has worked in theatres across the country, most notably for 18 Seasons with the Shaw Festival with favourite roles including: Stella Livingston in Light Up The Sky, Lady Britomart in Major Barbara, Madame Ranyavskaya in The Cherry Orchard, Regina in Little Foxes, Ludmilla in Hotel Peccadillo, Constance in The Constant Wife, Vera in Pal Joey, The Actress in Blood Relations and Ann Deever in All My Sons. Most recently Laurie has played Lady Bracknell in The Importance Of Being Earnest for both Persephone and Blue Bridge Theatre. She was last seen at Canadian Stage as Karen in SpeedThe-Plow, and is a Dora Mavor Moore and Jessie Award Nominee.

RIC REID

Erik Blake The Humans marks the debut of Ric at Canadian Stage. He has been a member of the Shaw Company for 15 years. While there he has performed in Come Back Little Sheba, Me and My Girl, When the Rain Stops Falling, Magic Fire, Lady from the Sea to name a few. He and his wife, Kelly, co-founded Lyndesfarne Theatre in the Niagara area and She directed him in Shakespeare’s Villains, American Buffalo, 39 Steps and many others. Across the country he was Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird and Robert in Proof for both Edmonton and Winnipeg and Charlie in August: Osage County at the Citadel. His T.V. credits include Suits, Rookie Blue, X-Files.

MARALYN RYAN

Fiona “Momo” Blake For Canadian Stage: Thirteen Hands (co-production with National Arts Centre). For the Citadel Theatre: A Christmas Carol, Big Mama in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Gertrude in Hamlet, Julia in Lend Me a Tenor. Selected acting credits: Vivian Bearing in Wit (Globe Theatre); Homeward Bound (The Grand Theatre/NAC); Maria Callas in Masterclass (Sudbury Theatre); Joy and Shop at Sly Corner (Shaw Festival); Crackpot (Prairie Theatre Exchange/Belfry Theatre); Hamlet (Freewill Players); True West (Theatre Network); Rabbit Hole (Persephone Theatre); Georgia O’Keefe in Faraway Nearby (Phoenix Theatre); Private Lives (NLT); Seed Savers (WWPT); The Last Romance (Mayfield Theatre).

In 2017, Ms Ryan received an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for her Valuable Contribution to Theatre in Edmonton. Thank you to ALL the Humans in the creation and attendance of this show. Huge love to her family.

STEPHEN KARAM

Playwright Stephen Karam’s plays include The Humans (Tony Award, Obie Award for Playwriting, Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and Pulitzer Prize finalist), Sons of the Prophet (Drama Critics’ Circle Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist), and Speech & Debate. His adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard premiered on Broadway as part of Roundabout’s 2016 season; his film adaptation of The Seagull starring Annette Bening will premiere in 2018. Recent honors include two Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama League Award, and a Hull-Warriner Award. Stephen is a graduate of Brown University and grew up in Scranton, PA. www.stephenkaram.com

JACKIE MAXWELL

Director Jackie is thrilled to return to Canadian Stage where she last directed the multi Dora Award - winning verbatim musical, London Road. Last year Jackie directed The Changeling at the Stratford Festival and Watch on the Rhine at Arena Stage in Washington, DC after finishing 14 seasons as the Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival.

Favourite productions directed at Shaw include Sweeney Todd, Uncle Vanya, The Divine (World Premiere), Juno and the Paycock, Major Barbara, Come Back Little Sheba, Ragtime, Age of Arousal, and Saint Joan.

Jackie has directed in many theatres across Canada and the United States and was also Artistic Director of Factory Theatre from 1987-95.

She is the recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the Order of Ontario and two Honorary Doctorates.

Upcoming projects include directing Innocence Lost for Soulpepper Theatre Company and Paradise Lost for the Stratford Festival.

BRENLEY CHARKOW

Assistant Director Brenley is grateful for the opportunity to be assisting on The Humans at Canadian Stage and the Citadel Theatre. She is a freelance director who currently divides her time between Ontario and Alberta.

Recent directing credits include the Canadian premiere of A Bright Room Called Day (Studio Theatre), Tom at the Farm, If We Were Birds (Bleviss Laboratory Theatre), Seagulls, The Waves, Mo & Jess Kill Susie, Almost Maine, and On The Other Side of the World (Next Stage Festival). Her love for the development of new works had led to her involvement at Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre as well as recently serving as the AD of the New Works Festival in Edmonton. Upcoming: Directing Meg Braem’s Blood: A Scientific Romance (Maggie Tree); assistant director for Mamma Mia (Citadel) and is a participant in the 2018 Banff/ Citadel Program this February.

Brenley holds an MFA in directing from the University of Alberta.

JUDITH BOWDEN

Set, Props & Costume Designer Judith has designed for theatre over the past 25 years. Recent set and costume design credits include: Musik Fur Das Ende (Crow’s Theatre/ Soundstreams); London Road, The Other Place (Canadian Stage); Chimerica (M.T.C./Canadian Stage); Saint Joan, Sweeney Todd, Peter and the Starcatcher (Shaw Festival).

Judith has designed at the Shaw Festival for the past 16 seasons.

Recent costume design credits include: Watch on the Rhine, My Fair Lady (Arena Stage); The Changeling (Stratford Festival); A Christmas Carol (M.T.C.). Her work has been seen at the National Arts Centre, the Grand Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, P.O.V., Theatre Calgary, and ATP.

MICHAEL WALTON

Lighting Designer Previously at Canadian Stage, Michael was the lighting designer for Chimerica (with RMTC), Liv Stein, Julie, Harper Regan, The Other Place, Venus in Fur. Other recent credits include Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, Tartuffe, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Sound of Music, Oedipus Rex, King Lear, Othello, Fiddler on the Roof, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, School for Scandal (Stratford Festival); Mamma Mia!, Anne of Green Gables (Charlottetown Festival); The Little Prince (Theatre Calgary); Jenufa, Maria Stuarda, Albert Herring (Pacific Opera); Così Fan Tutte (Canadian Opera Company); A Christmas Carol, Enron (NAC); Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (La Jolla Playhouse); Million Dollar Quartet, Mary Poppins, Next to Normal, The Rocky Horror Show, Little Women, The Three Musketeers (Citadel). Upcoming Michael is designing The Rocky Horror Show, The Music Man, The Tempest, and Napoli Millionara with the Stratford Festival.

MATTHEW SKOPYK

Sound Designer Matthew Skopyk is an Edmontonbased sound designer and composer. Recent design/ composition credits include Romeo & Juliet, Or the Whale, Vigilante, Playing with Fire: The Theo Fleury Story, ENRON, Whisper, Michelle et Ti Jean, Palace of the End, Titus Andronicus, As You Like It, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, Twelfth Night, and Othello. Matthew is also the current sound supervisor for the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta.

ANDREA SCHURMAN Stage Manager Andrea is pleased to return to Canadian Stage. Other Canadian Stage credits include Venus in Fur, Red (with Citadel & Vancouver Playhouse), Intimate Apparel (with Obsidian), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (High Park ‘07/’08), and The Pillowman (with BirdLand). Recent credits: Production Stage Manager of the Charlottetown Festival (stage managing Anne of Green Gables, and A Misfortune), 2 Pianos 4 Hands (Marquis), and 2 seasons with the Shaw Festival. She has worked from coast to coast (and Barbados!) with companies including YPT, the Grand, Soulpepper, Theatre Passe Muraille, Factory Theatre, the Globe, Persephone, Mirvish, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Cahoots, Nightwood, Studio 180, Neptune, TNB, Tapestry New Opera, Opera Ontario, Ross Petty Productions, and the Stratford Festival. Andrea returns to the Shaw Festival this spring.

AL GADOWSKY Assistant Stage Manager Al is thrilled to be making his Canadian Stage debut. Select credits include: Crazy For You (Citadel/Theatre Calgary); West Side Story, Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Avenue Q, Venus in Fur, and Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel Theatre),); Anne of Green Gables the Musical, Million Dollar Quartet, Mamma Mia!, and Glenda’s Kitchen (Charlottetown Festival); Fortune Falls (Catalyst Theatre); Les Feluettes, Turandot and The Merry Widow (Edmonton Opera).

He is a graduate of the BFA Stage Management program at the University of Alberta. Al would like to thank his family and friends for their continuing love and support.

A GRAVITYDEFYING SPECTACLE

he who falls celui qui

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

tombe

“Genius… a wild ride” Géraldine Aresteanu

– LONDON EVE NING STANDARD

CCN2 - Centre chorégraphique national de Grenoble CONCEIVED, DIRECTED + STAGED BY

Yoann Bourgeois

MARCH 1-4 BLUMA APPEL THEATRE

the overcoat: a musical tailoring IF CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN, THEY CAN UNDO HIM

MUSIC BY JAMES

ROLFE

LIBRETTO + DIRECTED BY

MORRIS PANYCH Adapted from The Overcoat

by Nikolai Gogol

A co-production with

“A must-see of the season” - THE WHOLE NOTE

BLUMA APPEL THEATRE

canadianstage.com | 416.368.3110

WO R L D PREMIERE

Geoffrey Sirett, photo: Dahlia Katz

MAR 27 - APR 14