In Lieu of Flowers

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ORIGINALLY PRESENTED IN LONDON BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES STAGE PRODUCTIONS,WORKING TITLE FILMS, OLD VIC PRODUCTIONS IN ASSOCIATION WITH TIGER PRODUCTIONS.

BASED ON THE UNIVERSAL PICTURES/STUDIO CANAL FILM. BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL IS PRESENTED THROUGH SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL (MTI). ALL AUTHORIZED PERFORMANCE MATERIALS ARE ALSO SUPPLIED BY MTI. WWW.MTISHOWS.COM

CAST

Jessica Brown (she/her) Cassie

Breton Lalama (he + they) Alex

Allister MacDonald (they/he) Erin

Faly Mevamanana (she/her) Eddie

Kristina Nicoll (she/her) Marie

CREATIVE TEAM

Alison Crosby (she/her) Playwright

Ann-Marie Kerr (she/her) Director

Heather Lewis (she/her) Stage Manager

Kayla Cormier (she/her) Costume Designer

Jordan Palmer (he/him) Sound & Video Designer

Leigh Ann Vardy (she/her) Lighting Designer

Katrin Whitehead Set Designer

Ryan Wilcox (they/them) Chrysalis Lighting Design Assistant

Wesley J. Colford (they/them)

Producer, Highland Arts Theatre

Jeremy Webb (he/him) Producer, Neptune Theatre

Annie Valentina (she/her)

Dramaturg & INKubator Coordinator

Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg

Book by Kyle Jarrow

Musical Production

Conceived by Tina Landau

CO-PRODUCED WITH

NICKELODEON, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, AND ALL RELATED TITLES, LOGOS AND CHARACTERS ARE TRADEMARKS OF VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.

THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL IS PRESENTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CONCORD THEATRICALS. WWW.CONCORDTHEATRICALS.COM

When I was five, my mom really wanted our family to get a dog. My dad repeatedly said no, saying that he didn’t want to watch me get crushed when it died. After many of these discussions, my mom won this argument and we got a puppy later that year. And when my dad died, I drove four and a half hours to get back home, walked in the door, and hugged my dog. We want to protect each other and ourselves from grief, but it’s an impossible thing. My dad died ten years ago this spring, and for so many of those years I kept waiting for the moment where I came to terms with it. Ten years in, I haven’t. I’m left thinking that our grief stays exactly the same size and, with time, we find a way to keep going, to grow around it.

Now for the gratitude part: First, to Annie Valentina, thank you for encouraging me to apply to INKubator and helping me develop this story – it wouldn’t exist without your support. To Jeremy Webb and Wesley Colford, thank you for trusting me to be a part of your seasons. Your theatres have been second homes to me for the past few years and I am very grateful for that. Thank you to Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre for supporting this project through their 2020 Playwrights Retreat. To Santiago Guzmán, thank you for texting me back astonishingly fast every time I had a crisis about this project. To Ann-Marie Kerr, thank you for diving into this

show with such creative and generous care. To Heather Lewis, thank you for jumping back in for this show – I can’t imagine the process without you. To the cast and creative team, thank you for bringing your huge talents to this script – I feel very lucky to have had you all here. Thank you to eighty-seven other people I would thank if I had the program space.

To Jordan, thank you for listening to every good idea and every dumb one I have ever had for this entire process. To my sibling, thank you for inspiring so much of Eddie and Erin. And to my dad, thank you for driving me to every single drama class, camp, and workshop, all the while telling me I could make theatre as my job if I wanted to - I’m sorry you never found out that I listened.

For anyone reading this, thanks for downloading a digital program and reading through the whole dang thing. I appreciate your effort.

Alison Crosby (she/her) Playwright

Ever since reading what would become the first scene of In Lieu of Flowers in 2019, I immediately knew it was something special. The expert melding of humour and pathos revealed things about the depths of grief that felt startlingly both unexpected and true. The characters leapt from the pages onto the streets of Sydney and felt like I’d known them my whole life - a testament to the world Alison captured and brought to both life and death.

Four years later, I am so moved to be helping to show off this play to the world for the first time. The fact that it is also our first full collaboration with Neptune Theatre makes it even more special as we blend the best of both companies to create magic.

While the Highland Arts Theatre has existed in Cape Breton for almost a decade, it is so easy to feel disconnected across the causeway (a mere four hour drive) and partnerships like this feel so meaningful in bringing our work into a little more focus on the mainland.

A huge thank you to Jeremy Webb and the entire team at Neptune for bringing us onto this project for which I have so much love, the entire rock-star cast and creative team, Ann-Marie for infusing every element of this production with her imagination, care, and extraordinary heart, Annie Valentina for shepherding and igniting the script through many drafts, and, of course, Alison from whom this darkly whimsical, witty world was born.

Lastly, thank you to you. This is a very strange time for theatre as we all recover from the shared trauma of the past three years. Thank you for coming to sit in a dark room with us and a hundred or so odd strangers and for taking a chance on a play that has never been done before that you’ve likely never heard of. Such is the stuff of magic and as the play begins, I invite you to conjure with us. Keep coming and keep taking that chance.

Wesley J. (they/them)Colford

Artistic & Executive Director, Highland Arts Theatre

DEVELOPMENT NOTES:

This script was developed through Neptune Theatre’s inaugural INKubator Program as well as Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre’s 2020 Playwrights’ Retreat.

The playwright would like to extend particular thanks to: Annie Valentina, Jeremy Webb, Wesley J. Colford, Santiago Guzmàn, Peter Hinton-Davis, Daniel MacIvor, Koumbie, Taylor Olson, Stephanie MacDonald, Geneviève Steele, Stevey Hunter, Ron Jenkins, Mea Tonet, Robyn Lee Seale, Anju Virick, & Jordan Palmer.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Welcome to In Lieu of Flowers, the first completed script-to-stage production of our INKubator Program. We’re very proud to say this show has been fully written, developed, workshopped, and rehearsed by a wholly Nova Scotian creative team and is brought to life on stage through a partnership with Highland Arts Theatre.

As Neptune enters its 61st year, we continue to nurture and invest in local stories and talent. The INKubater program is still growing and we are keen to see just what this program can do moving forward.

If you would like to see more local playwrights work on stage, and want to support Neptune’s programming to foster that work, you can donate directly to our Chrysalis Program via the Box Office.

Catherine Bagnell Styles Interim Executive Director

On behalf of the Board of Directors, welcome to the world premiere of In Lieu of Flowers. Congratulations to Nova Scotian playwright Alison Crosby, the inaugural participant in Neptune Theatre’s INKubator program, on this remarkable achievement. Alison, we look forward to welcoming many more of your works in the future.

We are excited to be announcing our 2023-24 season on February 28 and can’t wait to share the playbill with you. Please remember to book your tickets to Billy Elliot - tickets sales are brisk and this is one show you don’t want to miss this spectacular show..

Paul Laberge Chair, Neptune Theatre Foundation

JESSICA BROWN (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Cassie

NEPTUNE: Blood Wedding SELECTED THEATRE: Conception (live read, TIFF), Scanner (workshop,Factory Theatre), Chess with the DDM (Onelight), Tough Guy Mountain: A Play (Summerworks Festival) Shauntay Grant’s Steal Away Home, Obeah Opera (Bcurrent) FILM/TV: Kids vs Aliens (Jason Eisener), The Sinner (NBC/Netflix), Diggstown (CBC/BET), The Good Witch (Hallmark), Grief Thriller (Mara Zigler), Cardinal (CTV) TRAINING: Neptune Theatre PPTP, Dalhousie University B.A with Honours in Theatre (Acting); Neighborhood Playhouse (Summer Intensive) OTHER: Love & gratitude to my family & friends for their ongoing support. My performance is dedicated to my late mentor, Peggy Redmond.

BRETON LALAMA (HE+THEY)

ROLE: Alex

NEPTUNE: The Rocky Horror Show, Fully Committed, Pleasureville SELECTED THEATRE: Alice in Wonderland (Bad Hats + Soulpepper), Queen Goneril, King Lear (Soulpepper); Orlando (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (CTP/Winter Garden Theatre/Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts); Hair (North American Tour; Broadway World Award: Best Featured Performer in a Touring Production). FILM/TV: Y: The Last Man (FX/Hulu); Slasher (Shudder); Pretty Hard Cases (CBC/NBC); Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor (Crave/Inside Out). Breton is currently Tarragon’s RBC Emerging Playwright in Residence. OTHER: Immeasurable gratitude to those who supported and assisted me over the last few months. This one is for all of you. IG: @bretonlikethecrackers

ALLISTER MACDONALD (THEY/HE)

ROLE: Erin

NEPTUNE: Frank ‘N Furter, The Rocky Horror Show, The Mad Hatter, Alice in Pantoland. 2022 Merritt Award Winner for Outstanding Lead Performance, Will Shakespeare, Shakespeare In Love OTHER THEATRE: Cowboy Tempest Workshop (Musical Stage Co.); Whale Riding Weather (TheatreOutre); This London Life (The Grand/Morris Panych); The Weekend Healer (Kazan Co-op)

AWARDS: 2020 & 2021 ACTRA Award Winner for Outstanding Lead Performance for Drag Queen JOAN of Arkansas Stage Mother (eOne/Momentum), starring alongside Lucy Liu & 2x Academy Award Nominee Jacki Weaver, & for Jeremy in LIAR on CBC; THE COAST’S BEST OF Theatre Actor GOLD Winner (2022).

OTHER: For my Nana Joan.

FALY MEVAMANANA (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Eddie

NEPTUNE: Alice in Pantoland (Alice), Peter Pan (Flea) OTHER THEATRE: Juno’s Reward (The Grand Theatre); The Dreamcatchers (Charlottetown Festival); Treasure Island (Solar Stage Children’s Theatre); Worry Warts (Summerworks); The Preposterous Predicament of Polly Peel, A Glass Hive (Toronto Fringe), The Movements (Zuppa Theatre) FILM/ TV: Moonshine, The Nature of Things (CBC). AWARDS: Dora Nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Individual (TYA). OTHER: Alison, thanks for trusting me with your baby. Big hug to my friends for holding me together, now and always.

KRISTINA NICOLL (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Marie

NEPTUNE: Debut SELECTED THEATRE: Rosalind, As You Like It; Jo, Little Women; Adriana, Comedy of Errors (Stratford Festival) Iris, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl *; Laura, Glass Menagerie (Tarragon Theatre) Miss Julie, Jhana, Toronto Mississippi (The Grand Theatre) Abigail, The Crucible; Regan, King Lear (RMTC). Hedda Gabler, Lady Macbeth, ATF. Olivia, Twelfth Night; Soulpepper, Rose, Charming and Rose Nightwood, FILM/TV: Jett, Pompeii, Anti-Social, Arlo Alone, Murdoch Mysteries, Cyberchase 14 seasons PBS, Atomic B., AWARDS: Dora Mavor Moore Award Best Performance*, International Fellowship Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, TRAINING: Acadia University National Theatre School of Canada, Shakespeare’s Globe, Broadprov, 13 seasons. OTHER: Assistant Artistic Director,Tarragon Theatre, AD Theatre Credo, heartfelt thanks to Neptune and HAT for this full circle moment of returning to act in my beloved hometown of Halifax.

ALISON CROSBY (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Playwright

NEPTUNE: The Rocky Horror Show (SM); The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time, Calendar Girls, Peter Pan, Cinderella (ASM); Lo (Or Dear Mr. Wells), The Colour Purple (Assist. LD, RBC Chrysalis Project) OTHER THEATRE: Irrelevant (HAT Playwrights Unit 2021); As If You Were Normal (PARC Retreat 2016). TRAINING: Mount Allison University.

WESLEY COLFORD (THEY/THEM)

ROLE: Producer, Highland Arts Theatre

NEPTUNE: Samqwan (Producer).

A Dora and Merritt Nominated playwright and theatre artist from Cape Breton who currently resides in Sydney, NS where they operate as the inaugural Artistic & Executive Director of the Highland Arts Theatre (or HAT). They have produced more than 80 productions over the past nine years and were recently honoured as one of the Globe & Mail’s “Canadian Arts Heroes of 2020” for their work developing the HAT’s bold new funding model, Radical Access. They are so pleased to be co-producing this beautiful new play with Neptune Theatre and thank the entire team for their brilliant work.

JERMEMY WEBB (HE/HIM)

ROLE: Producer, Neptune Theatre

NEPTUNE: Elf The Musical, Misery, The Rocky Horror Show, Alice in Pantoland, The Woman in Black, Fully Committed, Calendar Girls, Peter Pan, Little Thing, Big Thing, Noises Off, Cinderella, Shakespeare in Love, Mamma Mia!, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. UPCOMING: Billy Elliot The Musical AS ACTOR: Beauty and the Beast, Great Expectations, Rexy!,The Comedy of Errors, The Wizard of Oz, Romeo & Juliet, The Producers, Beauty & The Beast (2007), Oliver, Annie, What The Butler Saw, Sylvia, Blood Brothers, Rumors, Sleeping Beauty.

OTHER THEATRE: The Hobbit (Festival Antigonish), Broadway On Argyle St, Macbeth, Under Milk Wood, Fishing, Shakespeare On Trial and A Christmas Carol (Off The Leash).

OTHER: His BEST productions are his sons, Samuel & Dylan. www.offtheleashhfx.com

ANN-MARIE KERR (SHE/HER) ROLE: Director

Ann-Marie is an award-winning theatre director, actor and teacher. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally. SELECT DIRECTING: 7 Stories (Fountain School of Performing Arts, Halifax NS), One Discordant Violin (2b theatre company Halifax tour to 59E59 St Theatre NYC, Mumbai India, La Licorne, Montreal); #IAmTheCheese (Halifax Theatre for Young People/EFT); Frequencies (Heist, Halifax, National Arts Centre); Concord Floral (Fountain School of Performing Arts, Dalhousie); Secret Life of A Mother (Theatre Centre, Crow’s Theatre); Bed and Breakfast (Soulpepper Theatre Company); A Christmas Carol (Theatre New Brunswick); Daughter (Theatre Centre; Summerworks, Battersea Arts Centre London; Intl tour); Snake in the Grass (Neptune Theatre); I, Claudia (Globe Theatre, Neptune Theatre); Stranger to Hard Work (Cathy Jones Eastern Front Theatre, Ntl tour); The Circle (Alberta Theatre Projects); The Debacle (Zuppa Theatre Company); Invisible Atom (2b theatre company). SELECT ACTING: Essay (Matchstick Theatre, Merritt Nomination for Outstanding Performance by Leading Actor); Adventures (Keep Good Theatre) When it Rains (2b theatre company, Chester Playhouse); Funny Money (Festival Antigonish, Winner of the 2013 Robert Merritt Award for Performance by a Lead Actress); Homage (2b theatre company, tour to Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Luminato Festival); Soul Alone (2b theatre company); The Long Valley-Stories by Steinbeck (Soulpepper Theatre Company, Toronto, nominated for 6 Dora Mavor Moore Awards); Doctor Chekhov: Ward 6 (Theatre Smith Gilmour and Factory Theatre); Chekhov Longs- In the Ravine (Theatre Smith Gilmour, Factory Theatre; Yukon Arts Centre, LSPU Hall St. John’s, NL) TRAINING/ AWARDS: A graduate of Ecole internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq and York University and is the former Artistic Associate of Magnetic North Theatre Festival. She currently teaches at Fountain School of Performing Arts; has taught at National Arts Centre, Soulpepper Theatre Company, National Theatre School, Globe Theatre. She is a 2022 Siminovitch Prize finalist; and the inaugural winner of the Gina Wilkinson Award for Female Directors. With Susan Leblanc she was a NS Masterworks Finalist 2012.

ANNIE VALENTINA (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Dramaturg & INKubator Coordinator

NEPTUNE: (AS DIRECTOR): Ballad of the Motherland (coming March ‘23); Pleasureville; Lo (Or Dear Mr Wells). OTHER THEATRE (SELECTED): The Outside Inn (Festival Antigonish); Yaga (Highland Arts Theatre); King of Berlin (The Doppler Effect). OTHER: Congrats to Alison and the entire team of In Lieu of Flowers, and a huge shout-out to our INKubator partner PARC for being an invaluable resource for Atlantic Canadian playwrights.

HEATHER LEWIS (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Stage Manager

NEPTUNE: SM highlights include: The Last 5 Years, The Color Purple, Noises Off, Cinderella, Mamma Mia, Seeds (Porte Parole), Stan Rogers, Once, Shrek, Addams Family, Billy Bishop Goes To War, West Side Story. ASM: More than 20 shows at Neptune ELSEWHERE: SM and/or ASM for Charlottetown Festival, Soulpepper, Angels & Heroes, 2b, Two Planks, Eastern Front, Shaw Festival, LunaSea, Mulgrave, Centaur. FILM/ TV: Producer’s Assistant, Cavendish (CBC) OTHER: This is Heather’s first full production in 3 years, and she’s so happy to be back! Endless love and appreciation to Mike for doing all the things, and to J & O for wanting me to do more theatre, even when they miss me at home.

KAYLA CORMIER (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Costume Designer

Kayla Cormier is a Cape Breton artist and the Technical Director for the Highland Arts Theatre. She is an alumnus of Cape Breton University where she studied Production Management, English Literature and Anthropology. She has worked at the Boardmore Playhouse, The Savoy Theatre, and, over the last four years at the HAT, Kayla has been involved with over 50 productions: such as She Loves Me (Set), Mary’s Wedding (Set and Costume), Little Shop of Horrors (Set), and Cabaret (Costume). She is also a recent Vital Award winner. Kayla is looking forward to her Neptune debut and working with the incredibly talented cast and crew.

JORDAN PALMER (HE/HIM)

ROLE: Sound & Video Designer

NEPTUNE: Misery, Page to Stage Series: In Lieu of Flowers

OTHER THEATRE: Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (2b Theatre, Merritt Nominated), Footnotes: An Evening of 3 Short Plays by Hannah Moscovitch, Joyride, The Little Years, The Woodcutter, Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes, Bone Cage (Matchstick Theatre); The Aliens (Theatre in Space); The Hydrofoil Mystery (Theatre Baddeck); The Proletariat, YAGA, Little One, Sweet Enough (Highland Arts Theatre). TRAINING: OIART, Diploma in Audio Recording Technology.

LEIGH ANN VARDY (SHE/HER)

ROLE: Lighting Designer

NEPTUNE: Misery, The Rocky Horror Show UPCOMING: Fall On Your Knees RECENT THEATRE CREDITS: Hamlet 911, The Neverending Story, As You Like it, The Diary of Anne Frank (Stratford), The Breathing Hole, Metamorphosis (NAC), Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (Belfry Theatre), For A Look or a Touch (Pacific Opera Victoria), Tell Tale Harbour (Confederation Centre for the Arts), Between Breaths, Everybody Just C@lm The F#ck Down (Artistic Fraud), The Silver Arrow (Citadel Theatre), The Third Colour (Prairie Theatre Exchange), Secret Life of a Mother (Theatre Centre, Crows Theatre), and The God That Comes (2b). OTHER: Leigh Ann is a teacher and coach at NTS. She is originally from Newfoundland and now lives in Nova Scotia and works all over the country.

KATRIN WHITEHEAD ROLE: Set Designer

NEPTUNE: Salt Water Moon OTHER THEATRE: The Tamer Tamed, Love and Information, The Secret in the Wings, Orlando (Fountain School of the Performing Arts); Observatory Mansions, The Blazing World (Villains Theatre); Brundibàr, Nine Compositions: Interactions with Art (Halifax Theatre for Young People); I will fly like a bird, Luisa Miller, Don Giovanni (Opera Nova Scotia) TRAINING: National Theatre School

RYAN WILCOX (THEY/THEM)

ROLE: Chrysalis Lighting Design Assistant

NEPTUNE: Little Thing Big Thing (Sound Design) UPCOMING: Ballad of the Motherland (Set Design Assistant), Billy Elliot: The Musical (Chrysalis Lighting Design Assistant) OTHER

DESIGNS: The Three Questions (Set Design, Phin Performing Arts) Outside Inn (Set Design Assistant, Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre) Crypthand (Associate Set and Lighting, Galeforce Theatre), Altar (Lighting Design, Todos Productions), Untitled Flamingo Play (Sound Design, Talk is Free Theatre), Hamlet, As You Like it (Sound Designer, Perchance Theatre) #IAMTHECHEESE (Video Design Assistsant, Eastern Front Theatre) TRAINING: Production Design and Technical Arts, National Theatre School of Canada

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