2020/2021 by Hannah Moscovitch April 8 – 25 / 2021 SPONSORED BY PTE.mb.ca It might be wild to think that work can make every person’s life better. Fortunately, we’re wild enough to try. When a person feels taken care of at work, it makes their whole life better. If you’re the kind of company that shares this simple philosophy, let's talk. We administer group health and dental benefits, critical illness, disability and life insurance – plus anything you need to take care of your employees in the best way possible. johnstongroup.ca Proud supporters of Post-Democracy PRAIRIE THEATRE EXCHANGE PROUDLY PRESENTS POST-DEMOCRACY By Hannah Moscovitch World Premiere Director: Thomas Morgan Jones Set, Props & Costume Design: Brian Perchaluk Lighting Design: Scott Henderson Sound Design: jaymez Artistic Associate: Cherissa Richards PTE Directing Mentorship: Julie Lumsden Stage Manager: Karyn Kumhyr Assistant Stage Manager: Ali Fulmyk Film Director: Sam Vint Film Company: Ice River Films Featuring: Alicia Johnston Shannon Kristian Jordan Lee Arne MacPherson Bill Stephanie Sy Justine Runtime: 60 minutes, no intermission Audience Advisory: This production contains strong language, themes, scenes and descriptions of sexual assault and harassment, racism, classism, alcohol consumption, and mentions of child exploitation and sex with a minor. Post-Democracy was commissioned for Prairie Theatre Exchange by former Artistic Director, Robert Metcalfe. We invite you to join us in recognizing that we are on Treaty 1 land, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Dakota and Métis nations. PTE is a committed partner of Winnipeg’s Indigenous Accord, and, as a part of our journey to reconciliation, we are dedicated to bringing Indigenous stories and voices to the PTE stage every season. DIRECTOR’S NOTES So much is new. With Post-Democracy, we are bringing the words, characters and story of Hannah Moscovitch to life for the very first time. Hannah is a truly astonishing writer. Her understanding of the human condition and her ability to write with extraordinary depth and also astounding economy often leaves me breathless. The question that kept bubbling up for me (and continues to) as we worked on this production was, “What happens to human beings when they have seemingly limitless power and they feel they are accountable to no one?” The answer I see evidenced again and again in this story is, “They destroy themselves.” In so many ways, this play is a warning and also a call to action. So, we have a new play. Now, how do we bring it to life in a pandemic? Creating theatre felt so familiar and at the same time, completely new. The brilliant and courageous artists on this project followed strict protocol. We staged the production for physical distancing while choosing a design that still supported the story…we used the restrictions as artistic invitations to inspire our work. With the decision not to welcome live audiences for this production, we further embraced the idea of creating a theatre production for the screen by considering the language of film in how we use transitions in our production and also how we control what you as the audience will see. There has been so much learning, such an amazing curiosity and playfulness in collaboration, and now we have this digital production ready to share. As a digital production, we are overjoyed to not only share the play with our wonderful audiences here in Winnipeg and Manitoba, but also with audiences nationally and internationally. What an utterly amazing thing. As we began rehearsing, in many ways against all odds, the act of creating theatre felt like an act of resilience. We also knew and felt that it was an act of hope. PTE is so proud to bring you all of this newness: this new play and this new way of sharing stories for us as a theatre company. All of us here at the theatre are deeply grateful that you are engaging with this story, this production, and helping us to bring theatre back to life, again. Thank you. With love, Thomas Morgan Jones PTE Artistic Director 2 Post-Democracy MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE: Post-Democracy is based on my real lived experiences of being around affluent high-level corporate executives. We talk a lot about the 1% who hold and exert power in in our culture but we rarely put them onstage. I hung around with the 1% for a while. I want to show them to you. “Politics and government are increasingly slipping back into the control of privileged elites in the manner characteristic of pre-democratic times.” – Colin Crouch Hannah Moscovitch is an acclaimed Canadian playwright and TV writer whose work for the stage has been widely produced in Canada as well as around the world. Hannah has been honoured with numerous awards, including the Trillium Book Award, both the Herald Angel and a Scotsburn Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival, the Nova Scotia MasterWorks Award, and the prestigious Windham- Campbell Prize administered by Yale. She’s been a finalist for the International Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and twice for the Governor General’s Award. Hannah’s music-theatre hybrid Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (co-created with Christian Barry and Ben Caplan) played at both 59E59 Theatres off-Broadway and at the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it garnered a landslide of critical praise, including more than fifty four- and five-star reviews, becoming a TimeOut and New York Times Critic’s Pick and receiving six Drama Desk Award nominations. Before the pandemic hit, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story had been touring internationally for two years. Hannah’s other writing for the stage includes Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, East of Berlin, InAinity, Bunny, What a Young Wife Ought to Know, The Russian Play, This is War, Little One and a confessional work for the stage, Secret Life of a Mother, co-created by Ann-Marie Kerr and Maev Beaty. Hannah is playwright-in-residence at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. Note: the character of Justine was developed in consultation with Stephanie Sy Prairie Theatre Exchange is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the terms of the jointly negotiated Canadian Theatre Agreement. Post-Democracy 3 Does PTE have a special place in your heart? It did for Ellen Hirst. She attended this theatre for years. And she chose to remember PTE in her will. Her final donation, a bequest, was added to our endowment fund. Now every year the interest generated will go towards all the things that make PTE special. It will help: • fund new play commissions like The Third Colour. • bring new, Canadian stories to life like Prairie Nurse. • bring magic to this stage through the amazing work of our artists in shows like How the Heavens Go. Ellen’s gift is a gift to everyone sitting in the theatre right now. We thank her for her generous spirit. We thank her for having a special place in her heart for PTE. Debbie Patterson as Mary in How the Heavens Go by Joseph Aragon. Photo by Leif Norman If you have named PTE in your will or would like to learn how to do so, please contact Carman at 204-925-5263 or [email protected] MEET THE ARTISTS Alicia Johnston - Shannon Alicia is honoured to have been a contributor to the making of this art, from the belly of this pandemic. A truly unforgettable experience. Previous favourite productions include: Happy Place, The Flats, Butcher (Prairie Theatre Exchange); Outside Mullingar (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Red Earth (One Trunk Theatre/ Theatre Projects Manitoba); Que Faire d’Albert?, Le Dieu Du Carnage, Deux Sur la Blalançoire (Théâtre Cercle Molière); Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, the Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in the Ruins); The Winter’s Tale (Tom Tom Theatre); Essay, The Russian Play (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre). Alicia is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. Kristian Jordan - Lee Kristian Jordan is a Winnipeg-based actor/playwright/ creator. He has worked for many of the professional stages across the city and has had the opportunity to perform in communities across northern Manitoba and Ontario on five regional tours. He is a member of the Emerging Playwrights Unit at Prairie Theatre Exchange and the Manitoba Association of Playwrights. He recently appeared on screen in Burden of Truth and I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight. Arne MacPherson - Bill Arne played the title role in Shakespeare’s Dog at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and has performed in Winnipeg at Prairie Theatre Exchange, Theatre Projects Manitoba, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, Shakespeare in the Ruins, and in many independent productions. Contemporary dance performance includes petites danses (Gearshifting), and Much Too Much to Say (Company Link). Arne has directed dozens of plays (including a whole buncha Munsch at PTE). The most recent was Hamlet (RMTC Shakespearefest). Prairie Theatre Exchange gratefully acknowledges the ongoing and generous support of: Post-Democracy 5 MEET THE ARTISTS Stephanie Sy - Justine Stephanie was born and raised on Treaty No.1, Winnipeg. Selected credits include: Prairie Nurse (PTE), Vietgone (RMTC), Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow), Tribes (WJT), Next to Normal (Musical Stage Company/Mirvish/Dora Nominated), A History of Breathing (Persephone), The Little Mermaid (Globe Theatre), Prom Queen (Segal Centre), Queen’s We Will Rock You (first National Tour). Stephanie enjoys Hannah Moscovitch plays, mountain biking, winter, her 2004 RAV4, her loud family, and her roommates Matt, Billie Girl, & Pancake. Check out: imdb.me/stephaniesy/ for enjoyable Christmas movies and other films Stephanie has participated in.