Spring 2016 Catalogue 2016 Spring Catalogue

PLAYWRIGHTS CANADA PRESS
SPRING 2016
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CONCORD FLORAL
Jordan Tannahill
The Decameron meets I Know What You Did Last Summer
in this supernatural thriller of suburban teenagers fleeing a mysterious plague.
Rosa Mundi, Nearly Wild, and their friends spend a lot
of time at Concord Floral, a one-million-square-foot
abandoned greenhouse, and a refuge for neighbourhood teens; a place all to themselves where they can
throw parties, experiment, dream, dare, and come of
age. But hidden there is a secret no one wants to confront, and when Rosa and Nearly stumble upon it they
set off a chain of events that include phone calls from
the grave. It’s time for the teenagers of Concord Floral
to start talking.
Jordan Tannahill
“Masterfully blends naturalistic dialogue, poetic lyricism
and magic realism. Concord Floral is an ensemble choral piece that packs a theatrical and emotional punch”
— Jon Kaplan, NOW Toronto
“Artfully structured, yet full of suspense… it’s got style
and substance—and is scary as all get out”
—J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
“A brilliant modern Canadian fable.”
—Annie Hodgins, Theatromania
FEBRUARY | $17.95
5 3/8" x 8 3/8" | 96 pages
DRA013000 | DRA017000
9781770914957
epub: 9781770914971
7f, 3m | first produced in October 2014
by Suburban Beast in association with
Why Not Theatre in Toronto
Also available:
Age of Minority: Three Solo Plays
Late Company
Jordan Tannahill is a playwright, theatre director, and filmmaker. The Globe
and Mail recently called Jordan “…the poster child of a new generation of
artists for whom ‘interdisciplinary’ is not a buzzword, but a way of life.”
His plays have been presented across Canada, and his films have been exhibited at venues such as the Toronto International Film Festival, the Art
Gallery of Ontario, and the British Film Institute. Jordan received the 2014
Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for his book Age of Minority:
Three Solo Plays and Dora Mavor Moore Awards for his plays rihannaboi in
2013 and Concord Floral in 2015. More info at www.jordantannahill.com.
1
OF HUMAN BONDAGE
Vern Thiessen
OF HUMAN
BONDAGE
VERN THIESSEN
Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham
From the acclaimed author of Einstein’s Gift and Lenin’s
Embalmers comes a clever adaptation of W. Somerset
Maugham’s classic novel Of Human Bondage.
When Philip meets Mildred, the alluring tea-shop waitress, he’s head-over-heels smitten. Mildred, for all her
teasing, isn’t all that interested in Philip, but rather in
his attention and his possessions. The power dynamics
between them are hard at play; while Philip’s dependence on Mildred places him in the palm of her hand,
Mildred’s emotional bond to Philip may be stronger than
she lets on. Of Human Bondage is an epic story of lust,
unrequited love, and the pursuit of beauty.
“Thiessen’s dramatization is the best and cleverest possible.” —Robert Cushman, National Post
FEBRUARY | $17.95
5 3/8" x 8 3/8" | 128 pages
DRA013000 | DRA000000
9781770915039
epub: 9781770915053
4f, 7m | first produced in April 2014 by
Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto
“There is the shimmer of sheer greatness over much of
Vern Thiessen’s adaptation of Of Human Bondage.”
—Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star
“A rich and beautifully rendered story.”
—Evan Andrew Mackay, Post City Toronto
Also available:
The Courier and Other Plays Shakespeare’s Will
Vern Thiessen: Two Plays
Einstein’s Gift
Vimy
Lenin’s Embalmers
Vern Thiessen is an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Vern is the recipient
of numerous awards, including the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for
Outstanding New Play, the City of Edmonton Arts Achievement Award,
and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Vern received his
B.A. from the University of Winnipeg and an M.F.A. from the University of
Alberta. He lives in Edmonton, and is the artistic director of Workshop West
Playwrights’ Theatre.
2
THE LAST DOG OF WAR
Linda Griffiths
A rare glimpse into the personal life of the late Linda
Griffiths, one of Canada’s most acclaimed theatre artists.
In 2005 Linda made a trip with her father to the last reunion of his RAF comrades, the 49th Squadron, Bomber
Command. Intertwining her father’s experiences of a
long-ago war with the war between a father and daughter, Linda Griffiths unveils an emotional chronicle of
a family navigating a familiar yet foreign relationship.
“An expert story-teller, Griffiths adds in plenty of details,
about herself, her father and the British relatives she
agrees to visit on the the trip. The whole play ends up
feeling like hearing an old friend tell a great story about
a quirky family vacation.” —Avenue Calgary
linda: The last real conversation I had with my father
was when I was fifteen. I am standing at the top of the
stairs, my father is at the bottom of the stairs; he’s got
his coat on—the door to the garage, the door to the rec
room. I say, ‘I hate you.’ He turns around, looks at me and
says, ‘Yeah, well I hate you too.’ Since then, a superficial
patching up has gone on. There are visits. We embrace.
There are jokes. Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, not
so much Father’s Day—but we have been polite.
Also available:
Alien Creature
The Book of Jessica
Chronic
The
Last Dog
of War
Linda Griffiths
FEBRUARY | $17.95
5 1/8" x 7 5/8" | 64 pages
DRA019000 | DRA013000
9781770914995
epub: 9781770915015
1f | first produced in November 2009 by
Theatre Projects Manitoba in Winnipeg
Games: Who Wants to Play?
Maggie and Pierre & The
Duchess
Linda Griffiths was a multiple-award-winning playwright, actor, and producer, and a founding member of 25th Street Theatre in Saskatoon. Maggie
and Pierre, which toured Canada and played off-Broadway, was her first major success. She was nominated twice for the Governor General’s Literary
Award for Drama. Linda passed away in 2014.
3
FREDA & JEM’S BEST OF THE WEEK
Lois Fine
FREDA & JEM’S
BEST OF THE WEEK
by Lois Fine
Jem is a self-described butch dyke from Montreal who
always imagined spending her life in bars and having
multiple flings. When she meets Freda, a woman who
exposes Jem’s vulnerabilities, her preconceived notions
of who she is are suddenly moot as she finds herself
partnered in a long-term relationship with kids. Which
she surprisingly loves—most of the time. But that’s all
changing as Jem and Freda’s marriage shifts from one
of love and lust, to gripes and grumbles. Freda & Jem’s
Best of the Week is a love story that explores the struggle
for identity as a couple reconciles a new way of loving
one another while accepting their new familial reality.
“This play is a dramatic poem, which theatrically documents major social change in the 21st century—the
re-invention of family, the seismic shifts happening in
our perception of gender… a brave and groundbreaking
play.” —Judith Thompson, Governor General’s Literary
Award–winning author
MARCH | $17.95
5 3/8" x 8 3/8" | 80 pages
DRA017000 | DRA019000
9781770915077
epub: 9781770915091
3f, 1m | first produced in September
2014 by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
in Toronto
jem: I am a butch dyke. Think about it like this—I’m not
a girl, I’m a boy. I’m not a man, I’m a woman. Us butches,
we recognize each other on the street, but we don’t say
anything—that would be like breaking the butch code—
but there’s something, it’s in the eyes, a look that passes
between us, and we wonder in that moment about each
other: What happened to you? Did you find someone to
love you? Did you let her touch you deep down inside?
Did you manage to hang on to her? Or did she leave you
in the dust with her name on your tongue?
Lois Fine has been widely published in anthologies, newspapers, magazines, and journals across various genres. Her article “Outlaw Moms,” first
published in NOW Magazine and later in the anthology Who’s Your Daddy?,
documents her and others’ successful Ontario charter challenge regarding
queer parenting. Lois lives in Toronto.
4
MY FAMILY AND OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES
Ellen Close and Braden Griffiths
Winner of the 2014 Calgary Critics’ Award for Best Play
Nine-year-old Phineas interprets the world through
his encyclopedic knowledge of animals, but some human behaviour is just too puzzling. Take for example his
mom, who insists he learn to fall asleep on his own, even
though all young mammals sleep with their mothers;
or his dad, who recently picked up and left the family, a behaviour quite unlike other mate-for-life animals.
And then there’s the constant news from his favourite
TV station, the Green Channel, about how humans are
ruining the environment, a fact Phin is growing increasingly anxious about. So when his fourth-grade class gets
a white tree frog as a pet, all of Phin’s anxieties come to a
boil. Adapted from the novel Amphibian by Carla Gunn,
My Family and Other Endangered Species is a charming
and moving story about family and the environment.
“Fantastically entertaining, funny and smart.”
—Jessica Goldman, CBC Calgary’s Eyeopener
“[Phin is] one part Holden Caulfield, the rebel yell of
Catcher in the Rye, and one part Dr. Spock, (albeit with
the emotional detachment completely gone AWOL).”
—Stephen Hunt, Calgary Herald
APRIL | $15.95
5 1/8" x 7 5/8" | 96 pages
JUV031060 | DRA013000
9781770915190
epub: 9781770915213
2 actors | first produced in April 2014
by Downstage in Calgary
Ellen Close is an actor, playwright, and the artistic producer of Downstage,
a Calgary-based theatre company producing Canadian work that creates
conversations around social issues. She received the Lieutenant Governor’s
Award for Community Volunteer upon graduation from the National Theatre
School in 2006. Braden Griffiths is a Calgary-based actor, playwright, director, and puppet builder. He holds a B.F.A. in Drama from the University
of Calgary. Braden and Ellen have been collaborating since 2008 as members of the Downstage Creation Ensemble, with whom they have created
three works: Bus(t), In the Wake, and Good Fences, all of which were nominated for the Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Play, with In the
Wake receiving the award.
5
SULTANS OF THE STREET
Anusree Roy
When young orphans Mala and Chun Chun encounter brothers Prakash and Ojha on the busy streets of
Calcutta, they are immediately at odds. The brothers
come from a middle-class family and spend their time
flying kites instead of attending class, while Mala and
Chun Chun can only dream of going to school, a goal
Aunty promises will be fulfilled if they beg for money
from passersby. After a petty fruit-stall heist lands Ojha
in Aunty’s cunning path, the brothers are blackmailed
into begging alongside Mala and Chun Chun, forcing
the children to interact. Though seemingly a nuisance
at first, the kids soon realize their strength in numbers
as Aunty’s scheming is slowly revealed.
“Roy brings richness to the conclusion, for though it’s
uplifting, it doesn’t erase the memory of the past.”
—Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine
APRIL | $15.95
5 1/8" x 7 5/8" | 128 pages
JUV031060 | DRA019000
9781770915237
epub: 9781770915251
2f, 3m | first produced in April 2014 by
Young People’s Theatre in Toronto
Also available:
Pyaasa & Letters to my Grandma
Brothel #9
“Roy is writing for a young audience and so her play
reflects the dilemmas they will face. Do you steal and
lie because it’s fun and you get stuff ? Or do you tell
the truth, play fair all the time, and live your life like a
responsible person of character and live with the punishment? I love that Roy floats those dilemmas into her
play and it never sounds like lecturing. And I love that
the conclusion is honest and not sugar coated… Roy is
a gifted writer.” —Lynn Slotkin on CIUT Friday Morning
Anusree Roy is the co-artistic director of Theatre Jones Roy and a multiple-award winning playwright and actor whose work has toured nationally.
Her other plays include Brothel #9, which was nominated for the Governor
General’s Literary Award for Drama in 2011, Roshni, Letters to my
Grandma,
and Pyaasa. Her opera librettos include The Golden Boy, Noor Over Afghan,
and Phoolan Devi. Anusree played Nurse Patel on Global TV’s medical drama Remedy. She lives in Toronto.
6
YOU ARE HAPPY
Rébecca Déraspe, translated by Leanna Brodie
Bridget finds her brother Jeremy in a closet attempting suicide. Again. Determined to help him find some
kind of happiness, she carts around grocery stores looking for his potential wife. Bridget’s search affirms what
she already thinks: there are couples practically everywhere. Eventually finding her way into the aisle with the
razor blades, she meets Chloe and her plans to stage a
happily-ever-after are finally set. In a deft translation
by Leanna Brodie, You Are Happy is a funny, clever story about young couples, conformity, and expectations
by one of Quebec’s fresh young voices.
chloe: You’re happy
You’re telling yourselves at last my pillows’ll be divided
into two distinct halves
One on the left side of my bed
One on the right
My hypothetical crabs will stay between Jeremy and myself
You think well that’s a relief.
I’ll finally be able to share my hydro bills
That’s pretty significant in your opinion
Not to mention that a single woman
Is someone who might steal your man
You smile
Or that a single woman
Is someone you might sleep with and ruin your nice relationship
Yeah you’re very happy.
YOU ARE
HAPPY
RÉBECCA DÉRASPE
TR ANSLATED BY LEANNA BRODIE
MARCH | $17.95
5 1/8" x 7 5/8" | 128 pages
DRA019000 | DRA013000
9781770915381
epub: 9781770915404
2f, 1m | first produced in May 2014 by
Ruby Slippers with BoucheWHACKED!
Theatre Collective in Vancouver
Rébecca Déraspe graduated from the National Theatre School in 2010
and has since written several plays, including Plus (+) que toi and Le Radeau.
Leanna Brodie is an actor, writer, and translator. She has written the CBC
Radio dramas Invisible City and Seeds of Our Destruction as well as several
stage plays, including The Vic and The Book of Esther, among several others.
Leanna lives in British Columbia.
7
THE GENTLEMAN CLOTHIER
Norm Foster
Experienced tailor Norman Davenport has barely
opened the doors to his new clothing store in downtown Halifax when Sophie, an exuberant young woman,
barges in looking for work, followed by Patrick, a single father who claims to be handy. Hesitantly Norman
hires them both to tie up the last few threads before the
grand opening. And whether Norman realizes it or not,
he needs help getting into the twenty-first century to
cater to the current tastes of his customers. When the
shop’s first customer, Alisha Sparrow, a friendly, attractive woman, drops in looking for a suit for her husband,
Norman is smitten against his better judgment. His sensible, modest world has become profoundly complicated
in less than a week, and Norman longs to live in a simpler time. Unfortunately for him, his life is about to get
messier as he wakes to find things are not what they
used to be.
APRIL | $15.95
5" x 8" | 128 pages
DRA013000
9781770915275
epub: 9781770915299
2f, 2m | first produced in September
2014 by Lighthouse Festival Theatre in
Port Dover, ON
Also available:
Bedtime Stories
Dear Santa
Ethan Claymore
A Foster Christmas
The Foster Season
The Foursome
Jasper Station
Jenny’s House of Joy
Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun
The Ladies Foursome
The Long Weekend
The Melville Boys
Mending Fences
Office Hours
Old Love
On a First Name Basis
One-Actmanship
Opening Night
Outlaw
Ned Durango (with Leslie
Arden)
Self-Help
Sinners
Skin Flick
Storm Warning
Triple Play
Wrong for Each Other
Norm Foster discovered the world of theatre after twenty-five years in radio arts, and has since become Canada’s most-produced playwright. He has
penned many plays, including a handful of musicals that have been seen
across North America. Norm lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
8
MARY’S WEDDING
Stephen Massicotte
Presented in a brand-new edition with a new introduction and updated script, revisit the play that is being
produced over and over again.
It is the eve of Mary’s wedding, a night filled with dreams:
dreams of love, dreams of war, and dreams of what might
be. When Mary and Charlie, filled with the passion, vulnerability, and impulsiveness of youth, unexpectedly find
one another sheltering in a barn during a thunderstorm,
a tentative love is born. But the year is 1914, and Mary
and Charlie must surrender their love and fate to the uncertainties of their tumultuous times. A play with a heart
as big as the land that serves as its backdrop, Mary’s
Wedding is a wonderfully tender, poignant story of innocent first love and the vicissitudes of fate.
“With an impressive economy of means—only one set,
two actors, and no intermission—Massicotte has combined a fictional romance with the true story of a heroic
World War I exploit.” —New York Times
“Puts you in mind of the grand passion of Catherine and
Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, the vastness of their love
mirroring the wild tangle of nature.” —Washington Times
“A delicate exploration of the excitement, beauty, and
purity of the first flush of romance… Massicotte is a gifted storyteller with an ear for detail and imagery.”
—Calgary Herald
MARCH | $17.95
5 1/8" x 7 5/8" | 112 pages
DRA013000
9781770915428
epub: 9781770915442
1f, 1m | first produced in 2002 by
Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary
Also available:
The Clockmaker
The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion
Stephen Massicotte’s award-winning plays Looking After Eden, Pervert,
and The Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook series originated at Calgary’s Ground Zero
Theatre. Mary’s Wedding won the 2000 Alberta Playwriting Competition,
the 2002 Betty Mitchell Award for Best New Play, and the 2003 Gwen Pharis
Ringwood Award for Drama at the Alberta Literary Awards. Stephen has a
B.F.A. in Drama from the University of Calgary.
9
PERFORMING INDIGENEITY: NEW ESSAYS ON CANADIAN THEATRE VOL. 6
edited by Yvette Nolan and Ric Knowles
The series New Essays on Canadian Theatre consists entirely of newly commissioned essays, and the volumes
themselves are designed to fill gaps in the critical record,
taking new approaches, often from minoritized and
under-represented perspectives, and always introducing topics that have never before received book-length
coverage. Volume editors and their contributors are
scholars, artists, and artist-scholars who are doing some
of the most exciting and innovative work in Canadian
theatre and Canadian theatre studies. This volume on
Indigenous theatre is edited by Yvette Nolan and Ric
Knowles and features an all-Indigenous table of contents that will accompany the two-volume anthology
Staging Coyote’s Dream.
MAY | $25.00
6" x 9" | 400 pages
LIT004060 | DRA013000
9781770915374
Also available:
Vol. 1: Asian Canadian Theatre, edited by Nina Lee
Aquino and Ric Knowles
Vol. 2: New Canadian Realisms, edited by Roberta Barker
and Kim Solga
Vol. 3: Latina/o Canadian Theatre and Performance, edited by Natalie Alvarez
Vol. 4: Theatres of Affect, edited by Erin Hurley
Vol. 5: Daniel MacIvor, edited by Richie Wilcox
Staging Coyote’s Dream, Vols. 1 and 2, edited by Monique
Mojica and Ric Knowles
Yvette Nolan is a playwright, dramaturge, and director. Born in
Saskatchewan to an Algonquin mother and an Irish immigrant father
and raised in Manitoba, Yvette lived in the Yukon and Nova Scotia before
moving to Toronto where she served as Artistic Director of Native Earth
Performing Arts from 2003 to 2011. She divides her time between Saskatoon
and Toronto.
Ric Knowles works as a scholar, author, editor, director, and dramaturge.
He is the author of several books, including The Theatre of Form and the
Production of Meaning and Shakespeare and Canada; past editor of Canadian
Theatre Review and Modern Drama; and current editor of Theatre Journal.
He lives in Guelph, Ontario.
10
THE BREAKWATER BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY NEWFOUNDLAND PLAYS, VOLUME THREE
edited by Denyse Lynde
Edited and contextualized by Denyse Lynde, The
Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Plays
Volume Three offers a rich and varied collection of
dramatic works by some of Newfoundland’s best playwrights. Included in the volume are Robert Chafe’s Belly
Up, a funny, poignant story about a blind man torn between his sense of fear and responsibility; Aiden Flynn’s
The Monk, a thoughtful tale of an ancient Norse town in
the throes of ideological upheaval; Andy Jones’s Albert, a
captivating play about an eccentric man and the curse
on his love life; Lisa Moore’s February, a haunting story
of a woman shattered by her husband’s death; Edward
Riche’s Hail, a riveting play about four friends who reunite over a past that threatens to come back to haunt
them; and Berni Stapleton’s A Rum for the Money, a funny, moving story of three rum runners questioning their
lives as they encounter inexplicable scenarios.
Also available:
The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland
Plays, Vols. 1 and 2
MAY | $19.95
6" x 9" | 314 pages
DRA013000 | DRA002000
9781550816365
Dr. Denyse Lynde began her university career at Queen’s where she completed a B.A. with honours in English and Drama before moving on to pursue
both an M.A. and a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto’s Graduate Centre for
the Study of Drama. Denyse is the editor of the first and second volumes
of The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Plays and Voices
from the Landwash. She lives in Newfoundland where she is a professor at
Memorial University.
11
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
NEVER SWIM ALONE & THIS IS A PLAY | DANIEL MACIVOR
February | $17.95 | 96 pages | 9781770914629 | 5 1/8" x 7 5/8"
A funny, satirical story, Never Swim Alone is about Frank and Bill, two
egotistical men locked in a ruthless competition of one-upmanship for
seemingly no reason. A hilarious metaplay, This Is A Play follows three
actors who, while performing, reveal their own thoughts and motivations as they struggle through crazy stage directions and an unoriginal
musical score.
TRY: COMMUNION, WAS SPRING, SMALL THINGS | DANIEL MACIVOR
March | $24.95 | 256 pages | 9781770914506 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
Three new plays by award-winning author Daniel MacIvor featuring
generations of women as they come to terms with themselves and each
other in the face of death, new life, and the small things. In Communion,
a recovering alcoholic and her estranged daughter try to negotiate a
new relationship in spite of vastly different lifestyles; Was Spring tells
the story of three women who suffered a tragic accident years ago; and
Small Things explores how the little differences keep us from understanding each other.
GAMES: WHO WANTS TO PLAY? | LINDA GRIFFITHS
March | $17.95 | 112 pages | 9781770914186 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
In the aftermath of a local high-school boy’s mysterious death, Dan and
Marion Metcalf are increasingly worried about their son Zach. He’s apathetic and shuts himself away in the basement to play video games and
spend time with Keira, his virtual girlfriend and confidante, giving his
parents more to worry about than their own insecurities and lacklustre sex life. When Zach’s best friend, Micky, begins to spend more time
around the house, bonding with Dan and flirting with Marion, even
Keira cannot anticipate the depth of Zach’s rage and sense of alienation. Will his repressed feelings culminate in a violent act that is sure
to go viral?
12
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
THE WANDERERS | KAWA ADA
April | $17.95 | 96 pages | 9781770914223 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
It’s 1978 and Aman and Mariam have fled to Canada in hopes of putting
an ocean between themselves and the daily horrors of life in war-torn
Afghanistan. A championship chess player in Kabul, Aman finds himself working in a pizza place for a boss who taunts him with insensitive
verbal jabs. Their fresh start continues to prove difficult as they navigate the trauma and displacement that follows them at every turn, and
when their son Roshon is born, their curse of displacement is passed
on to the next generation. The family’s only hope for a peaceful future
might be Mariam’s past, as her strange family mythology becomes a
source of power.
SANKOFA: BLOOD.CLAAT, BENU, WORD! SOUND! POWAH!
D’BI.YOUNG.ANITAFRIKA
May | $24.95 | 240 pages | 9781770914582 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
A young dub poet is swept up in the violence of the 1980 national election in Jamaica. Arrested and interrogated, she finds the strength in
her maternal ancestors to stand up for her country’s future. Featuring
the plays blood.claat, benu, and word! sound! powah!, these extraordinary stories of three generations of strong women and their resolute
belief in blood and truth form a lyrical trilogy that resonates with power.
THE FISH EYES TRILOGY: FISH EYES, BOYS WITH CARS, LET ME
BORROW THAT TOP | ANITA MAJUMDAR
February | $22.95 | 152 pages | 9781770913271 | 5 1/8" x 7 5/8"
Three coming-of-age solo shows that follow the lives of teenage girls
who attend the same high school and process their real-life dilemmas
through dance, while exploring the heartaches of youth and the meaning of heritage.
13
RECENTLY RELEASED
LATE COMPANY | JORDAN TANNAHILL
$17.95 | 120 pages | 9781770914148 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
One year after the suicide of their teenage son Joel, Debora and Michael ShaunHastings sit down to dinner with their son’s bully and his parents. Closure is
on the menu, but accusations seem to be the main course as everyone takes
a turn in the hot seat for their real or imagined part in the tragedy. Blame
shifts over the course of the evening from one person to the next, provoking
introspection where there may be none, and raising questions no one is prepared to answer.
THE LAST WIFE | KATE HENNIG
$17.95 | 136 pages | 9781770914100 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
Kate Parr is smart, confident, and passionate: a rising star in a world of intense
competition. But her obligatory marriage to Henry is rife with the threat of
violence and the lure of deceit; her secret liaisons with Thom, her husband’s
former brother-in-law, could send her to an early grave; and her devotion to
the education and equal rights of Henry’s daughters is putting an even bigger
strain on her marriage. Does Kate risk her life to gain authority in both her
relationship and her political career?
PIG GIRL | COLLEEN MURPHY
$17.95 | 80 pages | 9781770914469 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
At four a.m. on a secluded farm, a woman fights to take her life back from a
serial killer as her desperate sister and a haunted police officer reach across
time and distance in an attempt to rescue her.
HER2 | MAJA ARDAL
$17.95 | 136 pages | 9781770914544 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
In this poignant meditation on the uneasy relationship between science and
the human spirit, a group of women aged nineteen to sixty-three with HER2related breast cancer are recruited for a clinical drug trial. For some of them
the trial is renewed hope; others feel it’s a weary last resort. For Dr. Danielle
Pearce, the research scientist in charge of the program, the trial is the most
critical moment of her career. Her mission is global, and measured outcomes
are her chief concern.
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KILL ME NOW | BRAD FRASER
$17.95 | 128 pages | 9781770914384 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
When Joey enters puberty, his father Jake finds himself in a morally ambiguous position. Joey is severely disabled, but he still has the same sexual desires
as any seventeen-year-old boy, only he can’t do anything to relieve the tension. Jake is a widower whose life is devoted to his son, but when he suddenly
develops a serious medical condition, he becomes the one to rely on the people around him. As Jake’s condition worsens, an ethical dilemma troubles the
household as everyone is forced to consider the possibility of saying goodbye.
PONTYPOOL | TONY BURGESS
$17.95 | 72 pages | 9781770914421 | 5 1/8" x 7 5/8"
In the sleepy town of Pontypool, Ontario, no one is safe from an epidemic so
devastating it will leave you literally speechless.
A MAN A FISH | DONNA-MICHELLE ST. BERNARD
$17.95 | 96 pages | 9781770914346 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
Prosper is a fisherman trying to get by in the face of everyday problems: there’s
the spectre of the baby his wife desires, the ghost of his dead mistress, his wife’s
secret admirer, and the overwhelming lure of the village bar. When a slippery eel salesman arrives in town peddling progress to the rural community,
Prosper’s list of problems only increases. Faced with an invasive new species
in his lake, his fortunes decline along with the fish population, and Prosper
gets a lesson in gift horses and generosity.
6 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS | PRISCILA UPPAL
$17.95 | 88 pages | 9781770914308 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
6 Essential Questions tells the story of Renata as she travels to Brazil to reunite with the mother who abandoned her when she was just five years old.
In Rio, Renata discovers more than she bargained for in her quest to uncover the truth of who abandoned whom. She is continually tossed about by her
undead grandmother and a semi-invisible uncle as they choreograph the ultimate dance of mother and daughter, both of whom must confront their
dreams before they can ever attempt to confront each other.
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THE LADIES FOURSOME | NORM FOSTER
$15.95 | 144 pages | 9781770914261 | 5" x 8"
The day after their friend Catherine’s funeral, Margot, Tate, and Connie gather for a round of golf in honour of their recently departed fourth. At the golf
course they are joined by another woman, an old friend of Catherine’s they’d
never met. Over the course of eighteen holes, secrets and confessions unravel
as the women discuss love, sex, children, and everything in between.
THE FOURSOME | NORM FOSTER
$15.95 | 144 pages | 9781770914667 | 5" x 8"
Rick, Ted, Donnie, and Cameron are home for their fifteen-year college reunion; a great time to go out for a game of golf and catch up on each other’s
lives. Unlike their college days, the conversation doesn’t include talk of beer
and final exams, but of colonoscopies, home-security systems, alcoholism,
Buddhism, and more.
FUNDAMENTALS OF DIRECTING | RIC KNOWLES WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY PAT FLOOD
$19.95 | 216 pages | 9781770914704 | 5" x 8"
Concise and practical, Fundamentals of Directing is a distillation of Ric
Knowles’s twenty-five years of experience as a director, teacher of directing,
and dramaturge across Canada. Organized to reproduce the chronology of a
play’s rehearsal, the book moves through the various stages of the directorial
process, from selecting a project through auditioning; working with designers,
actors, and technicians; to coordinating the work of the full company through
tech week to closing night.
IGNITE: ILLUMINATING THEATRE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
EDITED BY HEATHER FITZSIMMONS FREY
$22.95 | 224 pages | 9781770914742 | 5 3/8" x 8 3/8"
A three-play collection about youth, Ignite: Illuminating Theatre for Young People
is comprised of And By the Way, Miss… by URGE Collective, Beneath the Ice by
Eva Colmers, and The Middle Place by Andrew Kushnir, featuring scholarly
introductions for each. The plays in this book explore themes of race, identity, and belonging.
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416.703.0013 | playwrightscanada.com | @playcanpress
Publisher: Annie Gibson
[email protected]
Managing Editor: Blake Sproule
[email protected]
Marketing Manager: Mandy Bayrami
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All books listed are trade paperback unless otherwise noted.
For a full listing of all of our titles, visit www.playwrightscanada.com
DISCOUNTS AND RETURNS
Wholesalers, distributors, and bookstores receive a 40% discount on all orders. Returns are limited to 20% of any single
title within 6 months of original invoice for credit. Cash refunds will not be provided. A 6-month extension may also be
requested within the original return period. Libraries receive a 20% discount on all orders. No returns are accepted except
in the case of damaged copies. Theatres that wish to arrange for the sale of books during the run of a play may be eligible
for similar terms as trade bookstores. Please contact Playwrights Canada Press for more information.
DESK AND REVIEW COPIES
Playwrights Canada Press will supply desk copies on orders of 25 copies or more of a single title, to a maximum of 3
copies. To request a desk copy, please ensure that the title, author, ISBN, and number of copies are provided, along with
the course name, professor’s name, enrolment, contact person, and purchase order number placed by your university or
college bookstore. Please contact us with requests for review copies. Please go to http://bit.ly/plcndeskcopy to complete
a desk copy request.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), the Ontario
Media Development Corporation, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. Nous remercions l’appui financier du Conseil des Arts du Canada, le Conseil des arts de l’Ontario (CAO), la Société
de développement de l’industrie des médias de l’Ontario, et le Gouvernement du Canada par l’entremise du Fonds du livre
du Canada pour nos activités d’édition.
an Ontario government agency
un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario
Cover art by Jess Bartram, jessicabartram.ca