Points of View

It’s mid-rehearsal, and two actors playing Lauren and Larry deliver their lines. All is well until the real Larry wanders onstage. When the real Lauren – who, it seems, is also the playwright – leaps up from the audience, chaos ensues. Throw in some rogue spectators, a corrupt senator, lion dancers, ghostly ancestors, and a few firecrackers, and you have King of the Yees, an unapologetic and hilarious take on Chinese culture and tradition in North America. From stage to backstage to audience and back on stage again, this play within a play bulldozes the fourth wall in an epic joyride through Chinatown.

A Gateway Theatre (Richmond, BC) production

The ghosts of the Donnellys return to tell their side of things. A raucous, wall-of-sound rock opera, Vigilante tells the explosive true tale of a ruthless Irish immigrant family and an entire town bent on revenge. Based on the unsolved 1880 massacre of Ontario’s notorious Donnelly family, Vigilante is a stomping, swaggering and compulsively watchable story about frontier justice. This outlaw offspring of Sweeney Todd and The Threepenny Opera walks the razor’s edge – aggressively inventive, visually stunning and absolutely electrifying. Vigilante marks the return of Edmonton’s astonishing Catalyst Theatre (Nevermore), following major tours to London and New York.

“I saw this piece twice: once in Fort McMurray, and again in Edmonton after Catalyst had returned from the off-Broadway run of their original production Nevermore. I loved both iterations but the steampunk style and pulsing fury of the music was deep in my bones by the second viewing. Now to see it again will satisfy a craving that I’ve had ever since.” – Jillian Keiley, Artistic director, NAC English Theatre

“History — Canadian history! — doesn’t just rock, it comes at you with an aggressive and explosive energy in the thrilling new rock ‘musical’ from Catalyst Theatre.” - THE EDMONTON JOURNAL

A sweeping drama of personal and political ambition follows soon-to-be Premier Joey Smallwood – the self-described “Last Father of Confederation” – as he propels the Dominion of Newfoundland into union with Canada in 1949. Both saint and sinner, the charismatic, controversial Smallwood is hounded every step of the way by witty, booze-soaked reporter Sheilagh Fielding – his intellectual equal and lifelong nemesis.

“My collaborator Robert Chafe started working on Wayne Johnston’s epic in 2009. It was a nearly impossible task – a story spanning 25 years with the most unlikely hero and villain combined in one man as ever landed in our collective history. This production debuted in January 2015 and I’m really proud to bring it to our national stage.” – Jillian Keiley, Artistic director, NAC English Theatre

“Artistic Fraud is one of the most innovative and exciting theatre companies in Canada. The set design and staging were kinetic, memorable, elemental. Desks, chairs, walls, and actors slid and curved into place like perfectly thrown curling stones – like the stage floor was made of smooth ice. I found myself wishing that Colony of Unrequited Dreams could be made into a mini-series.” - NFLDTXT.COM

An Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland (St. John’s) production in collaboration with Canada’s National Arts Centre.

In this exhilaratingly original, multimedia one-man show, actor / comedian / radio broadcaster Tetsuro Shigematsu tells the dynamic story of an emotionally distant father whose legacy is felt beyond his lifetime.

From the ashes of Hiroshima to swinging 1960s London, Akira’s incredible personal history continues to influence two generations. Separated by language, culture and history, what truly keeps father and son apart are their similarities. Empire of the Son is a funny, emotional and deeply thoughtful portrayal of parent/ child relationships.

Empire of the Son was recently nominated for five Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Production, Actor and Direction.

“I couldn’t help but hear the incredible amount of talk this work generated after its sold out debut in Vancouver last year. West of the Rockies, it was on the top of the reviewers’ year-end lists and when you see it, you’ll know why. In Empire of the Son, the personal becomes magic.” – Jillian Keiley, Artistic director, NAC English Theatre