[BCMA] Professional Theatre returns to Kelowna

Thu May 17 14:13:31 PDT 2012

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Media Release

For Immediate Release

May 17, 2012

Professional Theatre returns to Kelowna
Critically acclaimed, Mary's Wedding, comes to the Kelowna Museums
"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

Boy meets girl, and the rest, they say, is history -- an adage that Shoreline Theatre in collaboration with the Kelowna Museums, is taking very literally with their upcoming production of Mary's Wedding by Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte. The show, which opens June 20th and runs till July 1st at the Laurel Packinghouse, revolves around the romance of Mary and a young soldier named Charlie. Set in 1914, Mary's Wedding is a love letter to the power of memory and innocence, and to a generation of Canadians who were caught in the crucible of the First World War. The show is deeply moving, incorporating poetic works of Tennyson, gripping battles, and of course, young love.

The collaboration of the Kelowna Museums with Shoreline Theatre was a natural one as "theater is a wonderful way to help interpret this part of our history. It's animated, has expression and it allows our staff and volunteers to think and work in new and different ways." says Executive Director, Wayne Wilson. The partnership began in late 2011 when actor and artistic director of Shoreline Theatre, Jackie Faulkner, approached the Museum with the idea. "I was absolutely delighted that the Kelowna Museum Society was so willing to jump into this with me, this whole production, was the brain child of a meeting that I had with Patti Kilback, to use theatre to support the Museum and vice versa, it has taken off in leaps and bounds since then." The show which takes place in the Laurel Packinghouse, is a compliment to the Wedding Exhibit Something Borrowed, Something Blue which is currently running at the Okanagan Heritage Museum. The play while fictional, is based on historical battles with Canadians from World War I making it also tie in with the Military Museum.

Faulkner who is originally from the Okanagan has spent nearly a decade in theatre and dance in Vancouver performing with companies like The Royal Canadian Theatre Company, Pacific Theatre, as well as cofounding Les Petites Taquines Dance Theatre. Since returning to the Okanagan in the fall of 2011 she has had the opportunity to perform with Inner Fish Performance Co. in "The House at the End of the Road" which toured to Edmonton for the Canoe Festival as well as the local Fertility Festival. Mary's Wedding is the fruition of a dream to bring her work back home, and be able to do the same for other professional theatre artists who have had to move away from the beautiful Okanagan valley in order to pursue their performance careers.

Mary's Wedding boasts an impressive cast and crew, the set, lighting and costume designer Nicole Bach has worked in theatres across Western Canada and is the recipient of the prestigious Jessie Richardson award for her design work. She also has a local connection as her family runs a B&B in the South Okanagan. Joining Jackie Faulkner in the cast, is Mack Gordon a Kelowna-ite who after receiving his BFA in theatre from UVIC has worked professionally everywhere from Vancouver Island to the Interior of BC and was himself nominated for a Jessie Richardson for 'Outstanding Performance'.

"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

Rife with haunting images and an epic story Mary's Wedding is a show that will connect with its audience and leave a lasting impression. This is truly a show not to be missed.

Tickets are available at the Okanagan Heritage Museum or over the phone at (250)763-2417.

Shoreline Theatre and the Kelowna Museums thanks the City of Kelowna, Bliss Bridal, Twisted Lily Photography and Bean Scene for their generous support of Mary's Wedding.

Kelowna Museums
Since 1936 as a community interest and since 1951 as a registered society, the Kelowna Museums Society has provided the region's residents and visitors with on-going interpretation of the Okanagan and beyond. The Kelowna Museums Society exists to promote a greater interest and awareness of the natural, cultural, and military heritages of the Okanagan region and of the tree fruit and wine producing development of British Columbia. To this end, the Society manages and maintains five diverse museums that serve as your Kelowna Museums. Located in the heart of Kelowna's Cultural District, the Kelowna Museums offer a wide selection of exhibitions, public programs, and special events.

Jackie Faulkner-Artistic Director, Shoreline Theatre
Trained as a professional actor and dancer, Jackie holds a BA in Acting and English. She has worked professionally as an actor in both theatre and TV., with notable companies such as Royal Canadian Theatre Company, Pacific Theatre, InnerFish Performance Company and others, as well as being a co-founder of LPT Dance Theatre. Selected credits include:  House At the End of the Road (InnerFish), When I Was, Qui Je Suis (LPT Dance Theatre), No Sex Please We're British (Royal Canadian Theatre Company), The Misanthrope (UP), Proof (PT/Stone Throw).

Mack Gordon- Actor
Mack is based in Vancouver but originally from Kelowna! He got his start with Kelowna Shakespeare Society and Viva Musica way back in 2003. Since then he's been nominated for Vancouver's prestigious Jessie Richardson Award and worked professionally with such companies as Carousel Theatre, Green Thumb Theatre, The Firehall Arts Centre, Pacific Theatre, Chemainus Theatre Festival, and Project X Theatre. At Christmas, Mack is performing in Vancouver on the Pacific Theatre stage with his wife Kaitlin Williams in a two-person version of "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." Mack is thrilled to be a part of a professional production in Kelowna and hopes that he'll have many more opportunities to come back to his home town.

Nicole Bach-Designer
Nicole, whose roots are in the South Okanagan, has recently returned to the Vancouver theatre scene after completing her MFA in Theatre Design at the University of Alberta. Recent projects since her return include lighting design for SAMC Theatre's Romeo + Juliet and costumes for Pacific Theatre's A Christmas Carol. She is interested in the concept of complete scenography and has designed sets, costumes, lights, and projections for various productions including The Cripple of Inishmaan, Cowboy Mouth, and Paula and Strom. Other lighting design credits include Black Comedy, and set design credits include Love and Human Remains. Primarily a costume designer, Nicole is the recipient of two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards for her costume designs for A Bright Particular Star(2007) and The Farndale Christmas Carol (2006) with Pacific Theatre. Other costume design credits include Shadowlands, Remnants, Caribou Magi, Chickens, Last Train to Nibroc, and The Hungry Season (Pacific Theatre), as well as The Good Doctor (Rosebud Theatre) and Queen of Spades (Temple University, Philadelphia). Some of her TWU costume design credits include The Taming of the Shrew, The Heiress, Shadowlands, The Importance of Being Earnest, and As it is in Heaven.

Stephen Massicotte- Playwright
Playwright and actor Stephen Massicotte was born in Trenton Ontario in 1969, and grew up in Thunder Bay. He attended Cambrian College in Sudbury, where he graduated with a Diploma in Graphic Design and Advertising. He subsequently graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary.
His one-act plays include The Boy's Own Jedi Handbook, a coming-of-age story based on Massicotte's own experience, which shows the imaginative impact of the 1977 release of Star Wars on an adolescent boy and his friend. Other early plays include My Life of Crime, A Farewell to Kings: A Banger Play ( Ground Zero Theatre in Calgary, and Theatre Network's NeXtFest in Edmonton), and Looking After Eden.

His first full-length work was Mary's Wedding, which took three years to research and gestate and two years to rework at Alberta Theatre Projects. A "dream play" set in 1920 on the evening before Mary's wedding, it tracks back in time to her relationship with a young prairie farm lad, who leaves to fight the war to end all wars, but who remains alive and present in her imagination and memory. Mary's Wedding was enthusiastically received by Calgary audiences and reviewers, and awarded the Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Play in 2002, and the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for outstanding new publication. Since its premiere at ATP playRites Festival in 2002, it has been produced across the country: at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and at least ten regional theatres, including Victoria's Belfry, Regina's Globe, Thunder Bay's Magnus Theatre , the Brome Theatre in the Eastern Townships, Theatre New Brunswick, and The Eastern Front Theatre. It has been produced in Washington and San Jose, and in Perth, Scotland, and translated into French. Massicotte has also written a screenplay for Mary's Wedding. In has been adapted as an opera, which premiered in Victoria in 2011 (dir. Michael Shamata .)

What:         Mary's Wedding

When:        Runs June 20th through to July 1st

Time:          All shows begin at 7:00pm, with two Matinee shows at 2:00 pm on June 23rd and June 30th

Where:       Laurel Packinghouse, 130 Ellis Street, Kelowna BC

For more information about Mary's Wedding, call Lindsay Canning at 250-763-2417 or visit https://www.facebook.com/marywedding.

-30-

Photo attachment:  - Jackie Faulkner, Mack Gordon, Poster Image. More images available upon request.

For more information or to arrange an interview with the actors,  please contact:

Lindsay Canning
Marketing and Events Coordinator
events at kelownamuseums.ca
Phone: (250) 763-2417

Or

Patti Kilback
Associate Director, Exhibitions and Public Programming
pkilback at kelownamuseums.ca
Phone: (778) 478-0346
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