THE LAST WIFE BY KATE HENNIG DIRECTED BY GLYNIS LEYSHON
SEPTEMBER 12 - 30, 2017 MEDIA KIT
MYLA SOUTHWARD AND LORNE CARDINAL PHOTOGRAPHED BY ERIN WALLACE THE IMPORTANT STUFF
Rating: Show contains sexuality, violence and coarse language. Suggested for ages 14+.
Show Run: September 12 – September 30, 2017 No shows on Mondays.
Show Times: Evening Shows: 7:30 PM | Matinees: 2:00 PM
Preview Dates: September 12, 13 & 14
Opening Night & Reception: September 15, 2017 (reception free with ticket). Enjoy a glass of complimentary prosecco courtesy of LaMarca Prosecco, and a post-show reception catered by An Affair to Remember.
Venue: The Martha Cohen Theatre at Arts Commons | 215 – 8 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB
Tickets: $26-75 available at www.atplive.com or 403-294-7402
Parking: • On-street parking nearby (free after 6pm and on Sundays) • Paid underground parking available off Macleod Trail northbound (far left lane)
Media Contact: Ashley Meller Director of Marketing & Communications Alberta Theatre Projects Cell: 587-894-2257 [email protected]
ABOUT The Last Wife
IN A NUTSHELL:
A sexy, sophisticated, modern-day reimagining of Katherine Parr’s dangerous marriage to Henry VIII. The Chicago Tribune calls The Last Wife “a very smart piece of writing,” and the National Post calls it “…dynamic, engrossing…truly excellent theatre.”
THE STORY:
A modern-day Katherine Parr marries the most dangerous man in England, King Henry VIII, only to find herself locked in a fierce battle of wills for her ideals, and her life. She’ll change the monarchy forever… if she can keep her head. Lorne Cardinal (Corner Gas) and Calgary local Myla Southward lead a dynamic cast in what is sure to be the smartest, sexiest play of the season.
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IMAGES, SOUND & VIDEO
To download promotional images and video recordings, please visit www.atplive.com/media
IMAGES (HI RES)
Promotional Images:
Caption: Myla Southward and Lorne Cardinal in Alberta Theatre Projects’ The Last Wife
Credit: Erin Wallace
VIDEO TRAILER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kunn902UD44
Images and video of the production are available at atplive.com/media
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Kate Hennig is a multi-award-winning theatre artist, with over 35 years of professional experience as a performer, including seasons on Broadway, with the Royal Shakespeare Company and with both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals. She has a Masters with distinction in Voice Studies from the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England, and is the proud recipient of the 2015 Christopher Plummer Fellowship Award for excellence in the classical theatre. Hennig has recently been appointed Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival in Canada. She is writing a series of plays about the Tudor queens, known as The Queenmaker Trilogy starting with The Last Wife, which premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2015. The U.S. premiere took place at TimeLine Theatre, Chicago, in September 2016. The 2
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Last Wife was short-listed for the Carol Bolt Award and is on the curriculum at Queen's University and Glendon College. The Virgin Trial, the second play in the series, opened in June 2017 at the Stratford Festival, and is already largely sold out. Hennig is currently writing a third play in this series with the working title: Father’s Daughter. This season will also see the premiere of Wilde Tales: Hennig's adaptation for the stage of Oscar Wilde's stories for children. Wilde Tales debuts at the Shaw Festival in June 2017 and runs through the end of September. Hennig lives and writes in both Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. www.katehennig.com.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Glynis Leyshon, director of The Last Wife, last worked with ATP on the zany comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Also for ATP, Leyshon has directed The Melville Boys, M. Butterfly, Moo, Warriors, Seussical the Musical, The Wizard of Oz. She has also directed for theatre companies across the country, including the Shaw Festival, Tarragon Theatre, Bard on the Beach, and Theatre Calgary. Leyshon is one of Canada’s most respected opera and theatre directors. Verdi’s Otello was her calling card for both for Pacific Opera Victoria and L’Opéra de Montréal and other recent highlights include Don Giovanni in Buffalo, Lucia di Lammermoor for Pacific Opera Victoria and Mikado for Calgary Opera. Her special association with these two companies has also resulted in acclaimed productions of The Rake’s Progress, Barber’s Vanessa and Der Fliegende Holländer for Pacific Opera Victoria and Don Giovanni in Calgary. During her longstanding relationship with Pacific Opera Victoria, Ms. Leyshon has created over 20 new productions. As Artistic Director of the Playhouse Theatre Company in Vancouver (1997 – 2009), Leyshon directed a wide range of work, including a Jessie award-winning production of Equus. Before the Playhouse, Leyshon served as Artistic Director of the Belfry Theatre in Victoria for 11 seasons. Leyshon has a particular passion for working with and teaching young and emerging artists and is the recipient of Canada’s Commonwealth Medal for her contributions to the arts. She has conducted master classes for opera training programmes in Calgary, Victoria, Courtenay, and Banff. In addition to this work, she has also conducted courses at the University of Victoria, William Head Penitentiary, the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and the University of British Columbia, where she serves as an Adjunct Professor.
ABOUT THE SET
Scott Reid is the set designer for The Last Wife. Reid has a long history of designing for ATP, including productions Legend Has It, Venus In Fur, True Love Lies, East of Berlin, Half Life, Oliver Twist, Sitting on Paradise, as well having designed for 16 PlayRites Festivals, and last season’s hit premiere production of Michael Healey’s 1979. He also designs extensively for Vertigo Theatre (Turn of the Screw, I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, Farewell My Lovely, Vintage
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Hitchcock, In the Heat of the Night, Blithe Spirit, Dangerous Corner, And Then There Were None and Rebecca). Reid has designed for theatres across the country including Theatre Calgary, Soulpepper Theatre Company, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Calgary Opera, DJD, and the Alberta Ballet. Reid is excited to bring the duality of the world of The Last Wife to the stage, nodding to history, but with a modern flair. Towering panels, hidden doors, and a raked stage (slightly sloped, creating a forced perspective) will beckon the audience into the uncertain world of The Last Wife.
ABOUT THE COSTUMES
Heather Moore is making her ATP debut designing the costumes for The Last Wife in the latest of many collaborations with director Glynis Leyshon. In designing cohesive and individual looks for the characters in The Last Wife, Moore is exploring the idea of dressing a modern royal family – understated, elegant tailoring, and personality – or rather, suppressed personality. Playing within palates of blacks, whites and greys, Moore plans to let pops of colour and silhouettes tell the story.
ABOUT THE SOUND DESIGN
The Last Wife marks composer/sound designer Chad Blain’s first production with Alberta Theatre Projects. Elsewhere, Blain has designed for a number of Calgary theatres including Theatre Calgary, The Shakespeare Company, Lunchbox Theatre, Storybook Theatre, and Loose Moose Theatre. He has also worked in film and television, lending his talents to such productions as Super Drycleaners, Under Pressure, Sundowners, Racer-X, Spikes At Her Elbow, Breathe, and SELFIES. You can hear more of Blain’s work this season at Lunchbox Theatre where he’ll be sound designing for Santaland Diaries, as well as Storybook Theatre’s The Outsiders and To Dream Again. Follow Chad Blain on Twitter @Sintaxerrors.
ABOUT THE LIGHTING
Alberta Theatre Projects’ Production Manager David Fraser is the lighting designer for The Last Wife. Fraser has designed sets and lights for many ATP productions, including sets for Buyer & Cellar, Butcher, Playing with Fire: The Theo Fleury Story, The Syringa Tree and The Goat, and lights for 1979, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Charlie Brown, Unity 1918, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the Enbridge playRites Festival from 2005 – 2012. He has also designed for the Edmonton Opera, Vertigo Theatre, and The Shakespeare Company. Fraser’s designs have 4
@ATPlive | AlbertaTheatreProjects been nominated for a Jessie Richardson Award, two Betty Mitchell Awards, a SAT Award, and thirteen Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards (winning three). He is also a member of the Associated Designers of Canada, and was the Director of Production and a lighting designer for the 2015 English Canada Exhibit Prague Quadrennial.
THE CAST (Alphabetical Order)
Well known for his role as Sergeant Davis Quinton on 6 seasons of International Emmy-nominated comedy Corner Gas, Lorne Cardinal has acquired close to 100 professional Film & TV credits such as Unintentional Mother, Gods Acre, Tin Star, FX’s Fargo along with feature films The Humanity Bureau and Never Steady, Never Still. Throughout his career, Lorne’s received numerous nominations and distinguished awards for his body of work and is the recipient of an honorary PhD from Thompson Rivers University. A classically trained actor, Lorne’s acted and directed Lorne Cardinal in a diverse range of theatre productions such as King Lear, on Henry Canada’s premiere A-house stage at the National Arts Centre, and Black Elk Speaks at the Denver Center. Lorne’s varied skill set also includes writing, directing for TV as well as producing the documentary Chasing Lear. And, as a sought after voice actor, Mr. Cardinal has starred in award-winning animated series, most recently as Sheriff Gordy in Sony’s Open Season: Scared Silly and he’ll reprise his beloved role of Davis in the much anticipated Corner Gas: The Animated Series. Other Film & TV credits include: Insomnia with Al Pacino, Fallen Angel with Gary Sinise, Crazy Horse, Lonesome Dove, Rust with Corbin Bernsen, Disney’s Flicka 2 and Icebound with Susan Sarandon and more at www.imdb.me/lornecardinal.
Lucian-River was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan to an interfaith family and is entering the 3rd grade at École St. Sylvester. He has lived in three rural cities and one town before settling in Calgary. This summer, Lucian-River celebrated Canada's sesquicentennial with the Junior Young Canadians at the Calgary Stampede Grandstand show and he is overjoyed to continue the celebrations with his debut at ATP with this iconic Canadian play.
Lucian-River Chauhan Eddie
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Emma Houghton is an Edmonton born actor/singer/dancer and a recent graduate of the BFA Acting program at the University of Alberta. Select theatre credits include The Lady from the Sea, Bright Burning, The Government Inspector, and God's Ear(Studio Theatre), You're a Good Man Charlie Brown(Opera Nuova), Parade (Opera Nuova), The Tempest(U of A BFA), The Orchard(U of A BFA), Assassins(Loose Ends Theatre), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Citadel).
Emma Houghton Bess For ATP: Cockroach, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Shakespeare’s Dog, Robin Hood, Oliver Twist. Elsewhere: A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Crucible, A Christmas Carol (2012-14), Enron, To Kill A Mockingbird, Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Calgary); Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Twelve Angry Men, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Black Coffee (Vertigo); Richard III, Macbeth, Othello, William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead, The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare Company). Film/TV: The Revenant, Hell on Wheels. A graduate of the Birmingham Conservatory for classical training at the Stratford Festival, Haysam spent six Haysam Kadri seasons as a company member with the Stratford Shakespeare Thom Festival of Canada. He has worked extensively as a Theatre Arts instructor with Red Deer College, Mount Royal University, and the University of Calgary. Haysam is also the artistic director of The Shakespeare Company, and has been the Shakespeare by the Bow Program Director since 2012.
For ATP: Debut. Elsewhere: Oblivion (Third Street Theatre), A Good Marriage (Lunchbox Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Company), Tomorrow’s Child (Ghost River Theatre), Bone Cage (Downstage Theatre), Elephant (The Janes) (Urban Curvz GGW Festival), FUGLY (The Janes), Grey Matter (Magic Word Theatre Co.), The Change Project (Beyond Closed Doors). Awards: Betty Mitchell Award nomination (Bone Cage). Helen is a graduate of the Playhouse North School of Theatre. She is also a trained dancer.
Helen Knight Mary
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For ATP: Debut. Elsewhere: Three Musketeers, Richard III, As You Like It, The Winter's Tale (The Shakespeare Company); Skylight, A Christmas Carol (Theatre Calgary); The Hollow, Turn of the Screw, Jekyll and Hyde (Vertigo Theatre); Scarlet Woman, The Lover (Lunchbox Theatre); Summer of My Amazing Luck (Sage Theatre); Grace, McGregor's Hard Ice Cream and Gas (Shadow Theatre); Some Girls (Northern Light Theatre); FIRE (Canadian Stage Company/Citadel Theatre). Film/TV: Fargo, Vagina Bug, In Your Orbit. Awards: Betty Mitchell Award
Myla Southward nomination - Summer of My Amazing Luck, Scarlet Kate Woman; AMPIA Award Nomination - In Your Orbit; Sterling Award nomination - Some Girls; Betty Mitchell Award Recipient - As You Like It .
The Exchange events give audiences and artists the chance to connect and celebrate the art of live theatre. Most are free with the purchase of a ticket.
Pizza Night at ATP | Free with ticket | Thursday, September 14 – 6:30pm Join us for a conversation with artists involved in the creation of The Last Wife and enjoy Papa John’s Pizza. Hosted by ATP’s Producer Dianne Goodman.
Meet the Artists on Opening Night! | Free with ticket | Friday, September 15 – After the show Mingle with the artists, talk about the show, and celebrate with a glass of sparkling wine.
That $10 Ticket Thing | $10 | Tuesday, September 19 – 6:30pm Calling all students! For just $10 you’re invited to the hottest student social night in town! Join us before the show for a VIP cocktail hour with discounted drinks and free snacks. Your $10 ticket also includes a ticket to the show, and a chance to win great door prizes! Be sure to join us after the show for a conversation with the cast of The Last Wife. Student ID is required.
Meet the Cast | Free with ticket | Tuesday, September 19 – After the show Join us for a conversation with the cast.
Afternoon Tea | Free with Ticket | Sunday, Sept 24 – 1:00pm Dive deeper into the themes of the play through a discussion with ATP’s Producer Dianne Goodman. Enjoy a cup of gourmet Tea Trader tea and a delicious pastry from Sidewalk Citizen.
ABOUT ALBERTA THEATRE PROJECTS
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Alberta Theatre Projects is a Calgary-based, not-for-profit, professional theatre company that celebrates the art of live theatre. From its home in The Martha Cohen Theatre at Arts Commons, the company produces world-calibre shows with a focus on new works of theatre, plays by Canadian playwrights, and contemporary theatre from around the world. It is also a national leader in new play development and dramaturgy. www.ATPlive.com Twitter: @ATPlive Instagram: @ATPlive Facebook: AlbertaTheatreProjects
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