The End of Civilization by George F. Walker

May 15–May 31, 2015 (previews May 13–14)

Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.

Buy tickets here (via The Gladstone Theatre website)

It’s been two years since Henry Cape lost his middle-management job. He and his wife Lily have come to the city to try to find work. Things don’t go as well as they’d hoped... Canada’s master of dark comedy, George F. Walker, spins one of his greatest tales in this Ottawa première presented by the winner of the 2013 Rideau Award winner for Outstanding Production.

The End of Civilization by George F. Walker

Directed by Mary Ellis

Starring David Frisch, Julie Le Gal, Catriona Leger, Brad Long and Geoff McBride

Set by Margaret Coderre-Williams, Lights by Jingwei Zhang supervised by Martin Conboy, Costumes by Vanessa Imeson, Composition and Sound by Steven Lafond

Stage Managed by Richard Cliff

Same Day Theatre would like to introduce you to George F. Walker (not that he necessarily needs our introduction…), the playwright of The End of Civilization and Mary Ellis, the director of our production. Mr. Walker has created an incredible world full of beautifully complex characters for us to inhabit and share with you and Mary has been the centre of the vision as our team of actors and designers collaborate to infuse Mr. Walker’s script with life. As we enter the final week in the rehearsal hall, we are more grateful than ever for their contributions and are looking forward more than ever to share this gritty, funny and dark production with the audiences of The Gladstone Theatre.

George F. Walker (Playwright) has received nine Chalmers Awards, five Dora Awards, three Governor General’s Awards (including a 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award) and the Order of Canada. In 1997 his six-play cycle Suburban Motel premiered at Factory Theatre (Toronto) and Rattlestick Productions (New York). Plays from the cycle have since had numerous productions in the US, the UK and Germany.

Walker’s latest plays have recently made their debuts as follows: Moss Park, the sequel to Tough!, premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto in October 2013; The Ravine opened at the Seneca Queen Theatre in Niagara Falls in March 2014; Dead Metaphor had its world premiere at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco in February 2013 and premiered in Canada at the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto in May 2014; and The Burden of Self Awareness premiered at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa in June 2014.

Parents Night opened at the Pearl Company in Hamilton in September 2014, produced by CrazyLady Productions. CrazyLady premiered his latest play, The Bigger Issue, in Toronto in April 2015, alongside a remount of Parents Night.

Mary Ellis (Director) is thrilled to have this opportunity to direct this work by one of her favourite writers. She has worked extensively as an actor, director and teacher in Ottawa for many years. Mary directed Third Wall Theatre’s acclaimed production of Blackbird, which won the Capital Critics Award for Best Professional Production, and earned her a Prix Rideau Award nomination for best director. Her many acting credits include God of Carnage, The Dumb Waiter (Third Wall), Fly Me to the Moon, Circle Mirror Transformation, Life X 3, Problem Child, Better Living (GCTC), The Extremely Short New Play Festival (New Theatre of Ottawa), Doubt (Gladstone Theatre), and The Ark (NAC). Mary teaches at The Acting Company, and at Algonquin College, where she has directed, among others, Chekhov’s 33 Swoons, Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and George F. Walker’s Criminals in Love and Tough!. In June, Mary will direct Margo MacDonald in her new one-woman show, The Elephant Girls, at the Ottawa Fringe.

Henry and Lily Cape have seen better days. It’s been two years since Henry was down-sized from his middle management position. He and his wife Lily have traveled to the city in search of work, leaving their family in the care of her sister. They move into a dive motel. For over a month. That's more than enough to put a strain on any relationship as Henry and Lily are driven to re-define or cross legal and moral boundaries in order to survive.

David Frisch (Henry Cape) began acting in his hometown of Toronto. He trained at Emerson College in Boston, and furthered his career there, in Los Angeles and Chicago before returning home in 1998. He also worked as a radio journalist in Boston.

Most recently, he played Lucio in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, with Hudson Warehouse Theatre Co. in New York.

Favourite roles include Marc in last year’s ‘Art’ and Martin in Ethan Claymore at The Gladstone in Ottawa, as well as Schultz in Circle Mirror Transformation (Toronto), Hanrahan in Below the Belt (Toronto), Malvolio in Twelfth Night (Chicago), Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Indianapolis), and Nick in Homeward Bound (Chicago).

He also works in voiceover, film and TV. He has taught workshops in acting and Shakespeare, and coaches other actors. He sits on the boards of We Make Movies Canada (Toronto), Clay and Paper Theatre (Toronto) and Hudson Warehouse Theatre (New York).

He is also the Artistic Producer of Same Day Theatre.

Special thanks to Peter Barrett and Michelle LeBlanc and as always to his wife, Kim Narraway, for her wisdom, love and support.

Julie Le Gal (Lily Cape) has performed, created and directed theatre in the US, Europe and Canada. She studied the Michael Chekhov technique and Rudolf Steiner’s Speech Formation, and then worked with The Actors’ Ensemble, New York for many years, and co-created, directed and performed many pieces in Berlin and on tour in Germany and Hungary.

In Canada, she has performed in various theatres in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Ottawa. She currently has two documentary films in different phases of production.

Henry and Lily Cape may be having a rough time these days but they certainly aren’t alone. Joining them on their journey to The End of Civilization are Sandy, the practical and resourceful prostitute who lives next door at the motel and Donny and Max, homicide detectives investigating an escalating series of threats. Rest assured they all have issues of their own ...

Catriona Leger (Sandy) is delighted to return to the Gladstone for her third show this season, having previously directed Venus in Fur and played Georgette in The School for Wives (Plosive Productions). Her twenty years in theatre have taken her across Canada to act, direct and movement direct. She is also currently a theatre instructor at Algonquin College and St. Lawrence College, as well as a co-Producer of subDevision (www.subdevision.com). This summer she will direct The Comedy of Errors for a Company of Fools, of which she is a core artistic member. Catriona is a graduate of École Philippe Gaulier (Paris, France), and holds a BFA in Acting and MFA in Directing (UBC). Many thanks to Mary Ellis for giving Catriona this opportunity to fulfill her lifelong dream of playing a prostitute. A quick Google search will tell you some other things she can't fit in this bio. On Twitter: @catrionaleger.

Brad Long (Donny Deveraux) is an Ottawa based actor and writer. Recent theatre credits include This is War (GCTC) WE GLOW (Prix Rideau Award for Outstanding Male Performance, Outstanding New Creation, 2013 and Outstanding Overall Prod/Outstanding Duo Awards, Ottawa Fringe 2013, Holdover Edmonton Fringe, 2014) Mark Antony in Ottawa Shakespeare Co.’s Julius Caesar, MSND and Othello at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, Dreams of Whales with New Theatre of Ottawa, The Fan with Odyssey Theatre, Hamlet 2011 (OSC), The Pillowman (Rideau Award nominee for Emerging Artist, 2009), A Company of Fools’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “I”, Little Martyrs with Evolution Theatre and a dizzying array of characters in Twelfth Night with The Ottawa Theatre School. He was a core company member of Salamander Theatre for Young Audiences and has been an instructor with the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama and The Ottawa Theatre School. He currently teaches at Algonquin College. Upcoming – Re:Union at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in June.

Geoff McBride (Max Malone) is an Ottawa based theatre creator and ½ of THUNK!theatre. THUNK!’s play Far & Near & Here premiered at this year’s undercurrents Festival and we also produced The Lost & Find at the 2015 subDevision event hosted by the Enriched Bread Artists collective.

This spring Geoff directed the 16th Annual Lawyer Play Parfumerie at the GCTC and after The End of Civilization he goes into rehearsal with A Company of Fools for this summer’s Torchlight Shakespeare show Comedy of Errors directed by Catriona Leger.

Same Day Theatre is thrilled to have Henry and Lily’s motel room brought to life by an incredible team of talented designers. And we can’t wait to share their vision with you in just over two weeks…

Margaret Coderre-Williams (Set Design) is the Resident Designer and a full-time professor at the University of Ottawa’s Department of Theatre.  She has executed numerous set and lighting designs for theatre companies in the region over the past 36 years, including her many set and lighting designs for Orpheus Musical Theatre Society and Ottawa Little Theatre.  Most recently Margaret designed the lighting for the Unicorn Theatre production of Marat/Sade at the University and the set and lighting design for the Ottawa Little Theatre production of Driving Miss Daisy.  Margaret is thrilled to be working, for the first time, with Same Day Theatre and its talented team.

Jingwei Zhang (Lighting Design supervised by Martin Conboy) is a graduate of University of Ottawa, holding a Master of Arts in Theatre. He has focused on lighting design since 2009. His work includes theatrical, architectural, and film lighting. Jingwei is now working with MCLD (Martin Conboy Lighting Design) and holds the position of Assistant Lighting Designer. His recent theatrical works as a lighting designer include: Princess T directed by Helene Duchame; Ashes to Ashes directed by James Richardson; Peking Opera: Murder of a Concubine presented by William Lau. Jingwei is very excited to get on board with Same Day Theatre and to work in the Gladstone Theatre.

Vanessa Imeson (Costume Design) is a Theatre Artist holding a combined BA Honours degree in Dramatic Art and English from the University of Windsor, MFA in Theatre Design from the University of British Columbia and diploma for Makeup Design for Film and Television from Vancouver Film School. Based in Ottawa, Vanessa designs costumes, make-up, wigs and puppets for theatre across Canada while simultaneously acting as Head of Wardrobe for the GCTC's 2014/15 season. She enjoys collecting odd buttons and other people’s family photographs.  You can view her work at vanessaimeson.com

Steven Lafond (Composition and Sound Design) has been studying the art of music since the age of seven and presently works as a professional composer and sound designer here in Ottawa. He is also the founder and executive producer of Magic Studio Productions, producing events, promoting entertainment, and creating sound and music for Film & Theatre.

Some of his select theatre & film credits include: Venus in Fur (Plosive Productions), Stuff Happens (NAC English Theatre), Rocky Horror Show and Hedwig & The Angry Inch (Vanity Project Productions), "Game of Bones" (Eddie May Mysteries), "Spyfall" (Brett Kelly Entertainment), "This Is War" and "Goodnight Desdemona" (GCTC).

Fun fact: Steven made his theatrical debut composing the original score for an Ottawa production of Criminal Genius, another play by George F. Walker from the Suburban Motel series. He is thrilled to be returning to this dark and crazy world.

Kim Narraway (Set Décor Assistant, Props Design) has no plans to quit her day job as a Registered Massage Therapist in Almonte any time soon. She has, however, developed a passion for digging up treasures for various theatre sets. “I enjoy the challenge of finding that perfect item, especially when it includes an adventure to the nooks and crannies of ‘the Valley’ op shops and second hand stores.” Kim has previously helped Same Day Theatre find props and set décor for Ethan Claymore’s country kitchen and ‘Art’s long forgotten attic.

Richard Cliff (Stage and Production Manager/Associate Producer) is an Ottawa based Stage Manager, Production Manager and Arts Administrator. He is proud to have worked for such diverse organizations as the National Arts Centre, Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Canada Council for the Arts, Gwaandak Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Favourite productions include Greg MacArthur’s Snowman directed by Peter Hinton for Montreal’s Imago Theatre, Daniel David Moses’ Almighty Voice and His Wife directed by Michael Greyeyes for Toronto’s Native Earth Performing Arts and Tim Luscombe’s PIG directed by Brendan Healy for Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. The End of Civilization marks Richard’s third production with Same Day Theatre.

Buy tickets here (via The Gladstone Theatre website)