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Professional Play Reading Series
Featuring new, bold, hot plays!
Edmonton, Alberta
January 2009
2009 LINE UP
Belle Moral: A Natural History
By Anna Marie MacDonald
Directed by Marianne Copithorn
A huge success at the Shaw Festival, Belle Moral: A Natural History this magical, philosophical, mysterious play is one of newest works by best-selling author Ann-Marie MacDonald. The setting is an ancestral Scottish estate named ‘Belle Moral’ where the young Pearl MacIsaac studies science and nature by day and revels in fantastical dreams at night. “Bright and satiric… few other writers are so good at telling a story while arguing an intellectual point.” — Now Magazine
The Bone Cage
By Catherine Banks
Directed by Amy Defelice
Produced originally for the 2004 Edinburgh International Festival, The Wonderful World of Dissocia wowed critics and audiences alike, cleaning up at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland. This is a hugely original play, both magical and moving, that confirmed Anthony Neilson as one of the major voices in contemporary British theatre. Lisa Jones is on a journey. The inhabitants of the wonderful world she finds herself in - Dissocia - are a curious blend of the funny, the friendly and the brutal. As Neilson himself puts it, “If you like Alice in Wonderland but there’s not enough sex and violence in it, then Dissocia is the show for you”.
Rabbit Hole
By David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Andrea Boyd
This 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by David Lindsay-Abaire is a story about the tragic loss of a couple’s four-year-old son. Becca and Howie struggle against overwhelming grief and despair. Eight months have passed since their son’s death, and Howie is ready to move on, while Becca refuses to accept reality. This poignant work, both emotionally charged and unexpectedly funny, explores the possibility of finding hope even in the darkest hour. Rabbit Hole an uncommonly affecting and absorbing play and a significant breakthrough for Lindsay-Abaire” — Variety
Velocity
By Daniel MacDonald
Directed by Heather Inglis
Daniel Macdonald’s funny irreverent dark and terrifying play centers around a 15 year old girl who dares to challenge the laws of physics by blowing her dad out the 73rd floor of his office tower and interviewing him as he falls. While Dot’s world is coming crashing down, she’s bound and determined to take everyone else along for the ride - all in 6 seconds. Daniel Macdonald is a playwright, actor, director and teacher from Regina Saskatchewan. His play’s PAGEANT and MACGREGOR’S HARD ICE CREAM AND GAS has had productions and readings across Canada and the United States.