True

October 29 to November 5, 2021

Workman Arts Rendezvous with Madness Festival // 1025 Queen Street West, Toronto

Photography by Dahlia Katz

Director’s/Playwright’s Notes

“What is memory other than the story we tell ourselves about the past… But if memory is subjective, who’s to say the story is true… And if we change the story, what does that mean for our future…” Rosa Laborde

The playwright wishes to thank Aephraim Steinberg from the University of Toronto’s Physics Department for consulting on the probabilities of living in a multiverse, as well as Dr. David Tal from St. Joseph’s Hospital for his expertise on Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

True is published by Scirocco Drama.

Team

Rosa Laborde (Playwright/Director) — is a critically acclaimed Chilean-Canadian Playwright, Screenwriter, Director and Actor. NOW Magazine once asked, “Is there anything this multi-talented artist can’t do?” She has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, the Dora Mavor Moore Award, the Gemini Award (now the Canadian Screen Award) and received the KM Hunter Artist’s Award for Theatre. Rosa has been Playwright-in-Residence at Tarragon Theatre, Aluna Theatre, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, and has a commission for The Stratford Festival of Canada. A graduate of The Oxford School of Drama in England and The Canadian Film Centre’s Primetime Television Writing Program, she is also Chair of the Board for LACAP: the Latin American-Canadian Art Projects. Upcoming: Light at Tarragon Theatre, and Year of the Rat for Factory Theatre.

Maev Beaty (Marie) — has originated roles in 23 Canadian premieres, co-writing and starring in award-winning theatre, performing in ensembles of epic theatre endeavours and interpreting lead classic roles across the country and over five seasons at the Stratford Festival. She is a Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award winner, three-time Dora Award winner and ten-time Dora nominee in both performance and writing, referred to as “the excellent Maev Beaty” by the New York Times. Her film debut Mouthpiece was a Special Presentations Opening Film at 2019 TIFF.

Layne Coleman (Roy) — lives in Toronto and has spent the pandemic helping care for a grandson. He is an actor/director and sometime filmmaker and short story writer.  After True he will be directing a Russian play called Sin And Sorrow Can  Happen To Anyone at Talk Is Free Theatre in Barrie. He is thankful for this  opportunity to gather once more with artists and audience at the CAMH Workman  Theatre. 

Beau Dixon (Franco) — is an award-winning actor, musician, playwright, music director and sound designer based in Ontario, Canada. He is also the co-founder and artistic director for Firebrand Theatre, a Canadian educational theatre company, and an artistic associate for 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook, Ontario. Recently, Beau became the music director for Sheridan College, Lakefield College School and Stratford Festival.

Ingrid Rae Doucet (Cece) — is thrilled to be working in Toronto with this hard working, kind and compassionate cast and crew. Ingrid has worked in theatres all over Canada including Neptune Theatre, Magnus Theatre, Ship’s Company, Theatre New Brunswick, YPT, The Grand and Nightwood.

Shannon Taylor (Anita) — has spent six seasons at the Stratford Festival in leading roles, and has performed across the country at theatres such as RMTC, Mirvish/Studio 180, NAC, Theatre Calgary, Soulpepper, Citadel Theatre and Factory Theatre. Film and TV includes Don’t Hang Up, Private Eyes, MayDay, Eloise. She trained at the Birmingham Conservatory and Ryerson Theatre School (BFA). Awards: Mary Savidge Award; Dora nomination for Outstanding Performance.

Anna Treusch (Set Design) — is originally from Ottawa where she started her career as a visual artist. Anna now works as a Set and Costume Designer for Theatre, Opera and Musical Theatre. She has worked with such companies as Canadian Stage, Nightwood, Banff Centre for the Arts, National Arts Centre, Young People’s Theatre, Against the Grain, Coal Mine Theatre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Theatre St.John’s, Obsidian Theatre, Factory Theatre to name a few. A recipient of two Dora awards, Anna has also been nominated for The Pauline McGibbon Award and the Virginia Myrtle Cooper Award. She is a proud member of Associated Designers of Canada, ADC659 and IATSE 828. 

Thomas Ryder Payne (Sound Design) — Thomas Ryder Payne is a composer and sound designer for theatre, dance and film. Selected past work includes designs for Stratford, Shaw, Mirvish, Soulpepper, CanStage, Tarragon, Factory, TPM, YPT, Crows, Modern Times, Aluna, BIBT, Nightwood, Toronto Dance Theatre, NAC, Theatre Calgary, GCTC, RMTC and many others. Thomas has received 4 Dora awards and 25 nominations.

Trevor Schwellnus (Light/Projection Design) — is a Scenographer, designing sets, lights, and video for performances with Independent companies in Toronto. One of his chief obsessions is the intersection of design, dramaturgy, and cross-cultural art-making. He designed shows like Here are the Fragments, Dividing Lines, What I learned from a decade of fear, Nohayquiensepa (No one knows), among others. Previous work with Rosa Laborde includes Hush, and Marine Life. He redesigned Toronto’s Dora Award statuette in 2019, has 6 Doras (of 18 nominations), and was shortlisted for the 2015 Siminovich Award.

Lindsay C. Walker (Costume Design) — Originally from British Columbia, Lindsay has been working as a Set and Costume Designer for film and theatre in Ontario since 2001.  She is thrilled to be a part of bringing “True” back to the stage. Film credits include Moore’s Void, The Adventures of Sila, Dearest Enemy (Best Costume and Wardrobe Award, Hollywood North Film Awards), Ivy (Netflix) and The Secret Life of Marylin Monroe (Lifetime). She has designed for Nightwood Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Canadian Stage and Seventh Stage Productions. Lindsay holds an MFA in Sustainable Design for Theatre, and is a member of both CAFTCAD and IATSE. 

Charissa Wilcox (Production Manager/Technical Director) — is a multi disciplined professional.  Her background is production managing and technical direction.  Some key companies in her life are; Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Aluna Theatre, Tapestry Opera Company, The Coal Mine Theatre, A Modern Times Stage Company and Nightwood Theatre.  As her career progressed, she delved further into managing circus, aerial arts, performance arts and installation base work.  She’s had the pleasure to work with such companies as Circus Orange, Femmes du Feu, Diana Lopez Soto, A Girl in the Sky, Circus in the Trees, Artists’ Play, Circus Flux and Casa Loma. In 2014 Charissa co-founded FLYING SOLO and is the Artistic Producer and lead designer/fabricator of their cutting edge circus apparatuses.  The company has produced a handful of shows and is creating pieces to showcase on the City Circus Truck.

Richard Lee (Fight Director) — is an Actor, Sound Designer, and Fight and Movement Director. Previous credits include: Marine Life (Tarragon Theatre), Caught (Theatre Passe Muraille), Taming of the Shrew (Driftwood Theatre Group), True (Criminal Theatre), Tempest, The Odyssey & Macbeth (Driftwood Theatre Group), Paper Series (Cahoots Theatre Company), 5 Vengenaces (Humber Theatre), Little Dragon (K’now/Theatre Passe Muraille), Banana Boys (fu-GEN Theatre Company), China Doll (Nightwood Theatre). In 2003 Richard was a recipient of the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Professional Development Grant, and completely a study on Martial Arts and its application to Theatre.

Sandy Plunkett (Stage Manager) — A champion of site specific theatre Sandy often finds himself surrendering to various locales. He is the great-grandson of Morley Plunkett of the almost forgotten WW1 Canadian Vaudeville Troupe, The Dumbells. Selected Credits:  Bunny, The Circle, The Trouble with Mr Adams (Tarragon Theatre), The Fish Eyes Trilogy, Boys with Cars (Nightswimming), This, Flood Thereafter, Game of Love and Chance (Canadian Stage Company), Dividing Lines, La Communion, Madre, (Aluna Theatre), The Berlin Blues, Ipperwash (Blyth Festival), Public Servant, The Story, Weather the Weather, (Theatre Columbus / Common Boots),Gladstone Variations, Yichud (seclusion) (Convergence), The Silicone Diaries (Buddies in Bad Times), The Turn of the Screw (DVxT) and 7 summers with Dream in High Park.

Thank you:

Jenn Burton-Aulbrook, Sabrina Grdevich, Anna Hardwick, Scott McCord, Dana Sarafinchan, Heather Shaw of pi’lo, Tarragon Theatre, Aluna Theatre and The Citizen Room. A special thank you to Kelly Straughan of Workman Arts Rendezvous with Madness Festival and the people at CAMH who have invited us to be part of this important event.

This production is made possible with the generous support of:

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