WINNIPEG January 7, 2008 – Prairie Theatre Exchange is delighted to premiere Bruce McManus’s latest play – All Restaurant Fires are Arson – a dark, comic look at mortality through the eyes of some fifty-something high school friends. McManus has been a favourite of Winnipeg theatre-goers with such well known original plays and adaptations as Selkirk Avenue (for which he received a Governor General’s Award nomination), Schedules, A Doll’s House, Three Sisters and A Christmas Carol. This world premiere opens January 24 and is the 132nd world premiere in PTE’s 35 year history.
“Bruce’s play is one of the highlights of our season. It was a gem in the rough when I saw it at our reading back in 2005 and its only gotten better. You know only Bruce can make love and death this funny. We’ve also had time to refine the script and the director, playwright and the cast had a chance late last year to workshop it some more before starting rehearsals last week,” says Artistic Director, Robert Metcalfe.
“It’s inevitable that a writer will write about the end of life. I love the characters in this play for giving me the chance to practice all of the ways I feel about living and not living. This isn’t a grim play,” says playwright, Bruce McManus.
Director Christopher Sigurdson agrees, “It’s a very entertaining play even with the subject matter. Its dark side is well balanced with Bruce’s comic touches.”
Sigurdson explains that there aren’t actually any restaurant fires in the production as you might expect from the title, but that it is “sardonic expression that suggests a world-weariness – a perspective that has been worn down by witnessing the darker side of human nature” in particular by Tom – the ex-cop.
All Restaurant Fires are Arson features a talented mix of local and national actors. The three lead characters are played by Lee J. Campbell (Tom), Claude Dorge (Ron) and Susinn McFarlen (Tanya). David Gillies (Dennis), Ellen Peterson (Caron) and Brian Richardson (Geoff) fill out the cast. Tom (Campbell) is an ex-cop in his fifties who has been friends with Ron (Dorge) a philandering priest since back in high school. Tanya (McFarlen) was the most beautiful girl in school and always resented the attention it brought her. As the story unfolds it seems that they are surrounded by a series of deaths that may or may not be sinister but bring them back together in a way they never would have predicted.
The team behind the scenes is made up of some of Canada’s leading artists. Christopher Sigurdson is directing the six-member cast. Brian Perchaluk has brought his creative talent to the challenges of the script’s multiple locations and noir-esque sensibilities. The lighting design will be crafted by Scott Henderson. Greg Lowe will be composing original music for the play. The team of stage manager, Georgette Nairn and assistant stage manager, Gail Henderson Brown, make certain everything from rehearsal to performance runs smoothly.
Prairie Theatre Exchange is pleased to acknowledge the support in the development of this production through the New Creations fund of the Winnipeg Arts Council.
Prairie Theatre Exchange has posted onto its website (www.pte.mb.ca) interviews with Bruce McManus, Christopher Sigurdson and Brian Perchaluk.
WORLD PREMIERE EVENTS
Sneak Peek of All Restaurant Fires are Arson
Meet the playwright and hear excerpts read from the play by members
of the cast. Wednesday, January 9 @ 8pm McNally Robinson --
Grant Park
Behind the Scenes with the Playwright
Hear Bruce McManus talk about the process of playwrighting in general
and this play in particular, which took 5 years to complete.
Monday, January 21 @ 7:30pm Prairie Theatre Exchange, 3rd Floor -- 393 Portage Avenue Colin Jackson Studio Theatre
ATTENTION:
The media/photo shoot for ALL RESTAURANT FIRES ARE ARSON is
scheduled for Wednesday, January 23 at 1:30 p.m. Colour photos of
the show are available for print publications upon request.
All media please call 925-5257 to confirm your attendance.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Preview:
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Opening:
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Runs:
Until Sunday, February 10, 2008
Times:
8 pm Wednesday through Saturday
7 pm Tuesdays
7 pm Sunday, February 3, 2008
Matinees:
Sundays at 2pm, plus Saturday, January 26 and February 9 at 3pm
No show Mondays
Prices:
Adults $34.55 includes all taxes and fees
Students and Seniors $25.21 includes all taxes and fees
Preview Wednesday January 23, 2008 – rush seating only
$21.01 includes all taxes and fees
$15.13 curtain ticket
1/2 hour prior to each performance for students with valid ID and
subject to availability
Extra:
Every Tuesday performance features Petro-Canada Talk Back
Tuesdays where artists involved in the play answer questions from the
audience following the performance.
Tickets on sale at the PTE box office, 3rd Floor Portage Place, 942-
5483 or 24/7 online at www.pte.mb.ca.
Production Sponsor:
The Winnipeg Foundation
Supported through:
Winnipeg Arts Council – New Creations
Media Presenter:
The Winnipeg Free Press, Bob FM
Supported by:
The Manitoba Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, The Winnipeg
Arts Council, The Winnipeg Foundation and The Prairie Theatre
Exchange Foundation Trust
-30-
For more information contact : Mr. Carman Johnston,
Marketing and Development Manager, at 925-5257; Fax 942-
1774; e-mail publicity@pte.mb.ca
After January 18, please contact,
925-5269, fax 942-1774, email sponsorship@pte.mb.ca.
