Idiot's Delight Playbill

PL AYBILL Idiot’s Delight

Idiot’s Delight Robert E. Sherwood }{

a pproxi m at e ru n ni ng t i m e: 2 hou rs & 25 m i nu t es t her e w ill be one 15 m i nu t e i n t er m ission

ARTIST NOTE: RAQUEL DUFF Y Picture this: you are in a room surrounded by a large group of wonderful people. Some family. Some friends and confidants. Many are beautiful acquaintances and a few you have just met but feel an instant kinship.

There are some you have admired for years and you are elated to be sharing the space with them. All are bright, talented, generous souls who make you laugh and are a source of boundless inspiration. This is a typical rehearsal day working on Idiot’s Delight.

I confess I’d never heard of this play before.

What a surprise to discover such a beautiful work coupled with the opportunity to play with so many creative people. I can’t say enough about the Academy folk: their presence and energy is a vital part of this piece and I’m grateful to share the stage with them in their Soulpepper debut. Most of our days are filled with a good deal of laughs so I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Mr. Chameroy who can put a smile on even the coldest of hearts. What a joy to work with Dan again.

Most of all, I’ll share with you a few of the

many gifts of Albert Schultz: his innate sensitivity to the needs of each actor; his ability to tell a story either through a simple gesture or a huge group number; his capacity to illuminate the beauty of this play and in turn, the beauty of humanity amidst the terror of war; his concern and love for each and every person in the room; the love that helps us discover the many riches of this play.

As you can see, this picture I’ve described is pretty special - just like the Idiot’s Delight.

I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I have.

RAQUEL DUFF Y Irene in Idiot’s Delight

p roduc t ion s p on sor

CREATIVE TEAM

IDIOT’S DELIGHT

CAS T Evan Buliung

Dumpsty

Dan Chameroy

Harry Van

Mikaela Davies *

Mrs. Cherry

Tony DeSantis Pittaluga

Steffi Didomenicantonio

Beulah

Raquel Duffy †

Irene

Peter Fernandes *

2nd Officer/Dumpsty US

Katherine Gauthier *

Bebe

Hailey Gillis *

Edna/Anna

Gordon Hecht *

Mr. Cherry

Richard Lam *

Gregory Prest †

Quillery

Paolo Santalucia †

Captain Locicero

Salvatore Scozzari

1st Officer

Major/Orchestra leader

Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster †

William Webster

Shirley

Doctor Waldersee

Jeff Lillico

Donald Navadel

Diego Matamoros

Achille Weber

Oyin Oladejo *

Elaine

Colin Palangio *

3rd Officer/Auguste

Musicians:

Steve Hunter

Piano

Rick Hyslop

Violin

Lowell Whitty

Drums

Production Albert Schultz Director

Lorenzo Savoini †

Set/Costume Designer

Steven Hawkins

Lighting Designer

Mike Ross †

Musical Director

John Gzowski

Sound Designer

Julia Aplin

Choreographer

Paula Wing

Assistant Director

Diane Pitblado

Janet Gregor

Assistant Stage Manager

Jordana Weiss *

Apprentice Stage Manager

Shannon Lea Doyle *

Dialect Coach

Assistant Set/Costume Designer

Kelly McEvenue

Anahita Dehbonehie *

Alexander Coach

Nancy Dryden

Production Stage Manager

Assistant Set/Costume Designer

Richard Lam *

Assistant to the Musical Director

SOULPEPPER PRODUC T ION Jacqueline Robertson-Cull

Head of Hair & Makeup

Erika Connor

Kaz Maxine

Props Builder

Natalie Swiercz

Trevor McCurdy, Mike Keys, Kassle Minduik, Sean Poole

Lead Wardrobe Coordinator

Dresser/Wardrobe Coordinator

Geoff Hughes, Susan Dicks & Co.

Sewer

Barbara Nowakowski

Lisa Summers, Paul Boddem

Cutters

Ilana Harendorf

First Hand

Scenic Painters

† soulpepper academy graduate

* 2013 – 2015 soulpepper academy artist

i l l u s t r at ion : t h e h e a ds of s tat e

Greg Chambers

Millinery

Carpenters

BACKGROUND NOTES

A

t 6 feet 8 inches tall, playwright Robert Emmet Sherwood quite literally towered over his contemporaries. This Renaissance man was a war veteran, bon vivant, founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, Hollywood screenwriter, and even for a time, a presidential speech writer. His passions and skills converged in 1936 to make him a most unlikely Cassandra. Fully three years before the outbreak of World War II, he wrote Idiot’s Delight, a play that predicts not only the conflict, but the players that would be most involved in it. It received rapturous responses from critics and audiences – ten curtain calls on opening night – along with a Pulitzer Prize.

His own opinion was sharper: “The trouble with me is... I start with a big message and end up with nothing but good entertainment.”

his stance, he became involved with the war effort, writing speeches for Roosevelt and working as Director of the Office of War Information. But like Harry Van, the compelling, contradictory character at the heart of Idiot’s Delight, he was never a cynic. His post-script to Idiot’s Delight says it best: “I believe that the world is populated largely by decent people, and decent people don’t want war. Nor do they make war. They fight and die, to be sure but that is because they have been deluded by their exploiters, who are members of the indecent minority"

It’s fair to say that self-assessment is entirely too self-deprecating. In this play he manages, in a feat of nimble wizardry, to create more than 20 fully rounded characters within a clear, complex, and dangerously volatile political situation. There is room in this expansive play for the philosophy of Thomas Mann as well as the machinations of the munitions industry, for the rapture of young love alongside the anguish of people at the mercy of what Sherwood calls “the dictatorial ego.”

Cancer research and can-can dancers. Young revolutionaries and seasoned businessmen.

Tap dancing and treachery. There is a big message here about war and its senseless costs but Sherwood never misses a chance to make a wry observation, poke a little fun, tell a good joke or celebrate a moment of human connection.

What makes this play so enjoyable is that the message and the entertainment are a package deal, you can’t have one without the other.

Aut hor Biograph y

The playwright knew first hand about how war affects people. He was a veteran of World War I and a fervent pacifist until he became aware of the policies and plans of the German National Socialists. He not only reversed

Welcome to our 2014 season. We can’t wait to share this rollicking ride of a play with you.

Robert E. Sherwood was born in 1896 into a comfortably wealthy family. He attended Harvard, though he did more socializing than studying. While serving with the Canadian Army during the First World War he was gassed, an experience that made him a pacifist and provided an enduring theme for his writing. Back stateside he became a staff writer for Vanity Fair and later Life Magazine, reviewing films. Some credit him with being the first serious film critic in the world. His first play, The Road to Rome, launched his career on Broadway and in Hollywood, where he wrote many awardwinning films over the years, some, like Idiot’s Delight, adaptations of his stage plays. In all, he won three Pulitzer Prizes, as well as the Bancroft Prize for Roosevelt and Hopkins, his non-fiction account for working in the government during World War II. He died of a heart attack in 1955.

Background Notes by Paula Wing

THANK YOU FOR AT TENDING!

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Soulpepper Theatre Company is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (pact), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (tapa) and Theatre Ontario, and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Scenic Artists and Set Decorators employed by Soulpepper Theatre Company are represented

by Local 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Do stay in touch, and please pass the pepper!

Proud sponsors of Soulpepper’s production of Robert E. Sherwood’s

Idiot’s Delight Sponsor since 2000 – www.3macs.com