Live Theatre
Post Alice by Taylor Marie Graham
Wed. June 5 | Thursday June 6 | Saturday June 8
8:00 - 9:15pm (no intermission)
at Blyth Festival's Harvest Stage, 377 Gypsy Lane, Blyth, ON
(Outdoor venue, please dress in layers with comfortable footwear
Youth Tickets $10 - Use promo code ""YOUTH" on Checkout
Youth are under 19 years of age
MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT: Taylor Marie Graham (she/her) is an award-winning playwright, theatre scholar, and educator who grew up on the shores of Lake Huron / Huron Tract. She has an MFA in Creative Writing, is a PhD Candidate in theatre at University of Guelph, and works as a sessional theatre professor at universities in Southwestern Ontario. You can find Taylor’s articles in Canadian Theatre Review, Intermission Magazine, Routledge’s Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, and Canadian Literature. Taylor’s creative and scholarly work often
examines rural feminist identities and the decolonization of bodies in space. Critics describe her plays and operas as, “arresting and funny” (Slotkin), “uncommonly cool” (MoT), “charmingly twisted” (Toronto Star), “powerful, and courageous,” (OnStage), “meaningful for all ages” (Intermission), “darkly evocative” (Istvan Reviews), “psychological, theological, and ornithological” (Our Theatre Voice), “as moving as it is scary” (My Entertainment World), and “profound, beautifully crafted” (StageDoor). www.taylormariegraham.com
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MEET THE CAST
A Message from Our Playwright:
"My sincere condolences go out to everyone mourning the passing of Canada's master of the short story, Alice Munro. As a young girl growing up in Huron County in the nineties, I spent many hours reading Munro's beautiful stories, and in the years since I have remained a devoted fan of her work, particularly for her wonderful, enormously complex and important depictions of Southwestern Ontario life. I am deeply grateful to Munro for all she has given us, and I've found myself feeling the heavy weight of her passing over the last couple of days, especially considering my play Post Alice is set to be performed at the Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story in a couple weeks' time. Understandably, folks have pointed out the new meaning the play's title holds in light of news of Munro's recent passing. I originally wrote the play in 2021 for the Here For Now Theatre Festival in Stratford, and the name emerged from the decidedly postmodern style of the play I was writing. I had just spent the summer rereading her work for my doctoral studies and was so inspired this play came bursting out of me. The original cast and crew of the 2021 production created a truly magically theatrical experience. I was incredibly humbled by the positive audience and critical response to the 2021 Stratford premiere, as well as Talonbooks' decision to publish the play. Post Alice was born entirely out of a deep respect, love, and admiration for Munro's work. After speaking with the festival organizers, I know they are doing everything they can to honour Munro at the festival this year. I sincerely hope audiences can use this occasion to come together to mourn as a community of admirers of her work and celebrate the ways in which Munro's impressive legacy will live on, inspiring readers and writers for years and years and years to come.
Fiona Mongillo Aubree Erickson Heather Marie Siobhan O'Malley Zara Jestadt
Director as Edie Annis as Oneida as Belle as Wenlock
Fiona is the Founding Artistic Director of Here For Now Theatre Company. Selected credits include the Canadian Premiere of Girls & Boys as part of the HFN 2022 season and the Crow’s Theatre 2023 season, Angelina in Whack!(HFN), Senta von Schrader in Framed (Lighthouse), Louise in The Enchant-ment (HERE Arts, NYC); Bessie in The Young Ladies of Baddeck(Theatre Baddeck); Rose in Eigengrau, Elisabeth in Laundry and Bourbon(HFN). Selected Film Credits: Constance Weatherly/Madeline Tomkins in Murdoch Mysteries (CBC); Donald’s Secretary in The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi/Apprentice Productions). Directing: Post Alice (HFN). Training: BFA in Acting, UBC; MA in Classical Acting, LAMDA. Awards: 2022 Best Actress in a Play (Ontario Stage). Upcoming: The Farm Show: Then & Now and Resort to Murder at the Blyth Festival
Aubree is excited to make her debut on the Harvest Stage at Blyth. She hails from Saskatchewan, having studied classical voice and attended the Globe Theatre Actor Conservatory. She has done shows with theatre companies including Globe, Persephone, Winnipeg Studio Theatre, Dancing Sky, Souris Valley, Shakespeare BASH’d, and Here For Now. Aubree has worked on several new Canadian pieces with theatres across Canada and is thrilled that Post Alice is getting a second run.
Heather is a mixed settler/first-nations (Scottish/French/Mi’kmaq) actor, director, playwright, educator, theatrical and therapeutic clown, co-artistic director of U.N.I.T. Productions, and “Morro” of the Dora and Canadian Comedy Award winning clown duo, Morro and Jasp.
Selected Theatre Credits: Jill Banford in The Fox, Jessica in Spit, Belle in Post Alice, Rory in A Hundred Words for Snow, Rue in Whack! (Here For Now); Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (Guild Festival Theatre); Fanny and Mrs. Parsons in Mary of Shanty Bay (Theatre by the Bay); Mary in Mary’s Wedding, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Festival Players of Prince Edward County); Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (The Secret Shakespeare Series); Catherine Givings in In the Next Room, Martha in Spring Awakening, Rosalind in As You Like It, and Yelena in Uncle Vanya (The Lir). Training: Honours BA in Acting, The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art (Trinity College Dublin/RADA). Siobhan is the Managing Director of Here For Now Theatre Company
Zara (she/her) is a Toronto-based performer. A graduate of the CFC’s Actors Conservatory, the Stratford Birmingham Conservatory, and George Brown Theatre School, her favourite theatre credits include An Ideal Husband, Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival), Small Mouth Sounds (Segal Centre), A Midsummer Night’s Dreams (Shakespeare BASH’d). She recently co-produced her first short film, Bang Bang, which she also co-stars in. She is thrilled to be joining the Post Alice team and celebrating Alice Munro’s work.