#182 – Judith Thompson

Stageworthy

Judith is a playwright, director, actor and professor of theatre at the University of Guelph, and the Artistic Director of RARE Theatre Company. She is the author of 15 published plays, many of which are performed all over the world. They include The Crackwalker, Lion in the Streets, Perfect Pie, and Palace of the End. Her play Who Killed Snow White will premiere at the 4th Line Theatre in August, 2018. She has directed and co-created four plays with artists with exceptionalities including Body and Soul, Sick, RARE, and Borne Most recently, she wrote the play Wildfire specifically for 7 performers with Down syndrome, all of whom had appeared in Rare. She wrote two feature films, Perfect Pie and Lost and Delirious, several TV movies and many radio plays. She has twice won the Governor General's award for playwriting, as well as the Toronto Arts Award, a Dora Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and the Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Expression. She is honoured to have the privilege of collaborating with performers with exceptionalities.

Welcome to my Underworld
In Soulpepper’s fifth partnership with RARE Theatre Company, Canadian theatre pioneer and two-time Governor General award-winner Judith Thompson directs and dramaturges the World Premiere of Welcome to my Underworld, taking the Tank House theatre stage by storm from May 9th to May 25th, 2019 with a preview performance at 8pm on May 8th.

In Soulpepper’s fifth partnership with RARE Theatre Company, Canadian theatre pioneer and two-time Governor General award-winner Judith Thompson directs and dramaturges the World Premiere of Welcome to my Underworld, taking the Tank House theatre stage by storm from May 9th to May 25th, 2019 with a preview performance at 8pm on May 8th.

Welcome to my Underworld is a beautiful odyssey that erupts with heightened, illusory and playful language, as it follows Willow, a 10-year-old girl, as she gracefully weaves from one unique story to the next in search of her truest self.

Nine blazing hot works written and performed by new Canadian dramatists have been woven into one spectacular play. Each playwright brings their own gate-crashing ideas and compelling characters who have never been seen on our stages until now.

“What I love about RARE is that our plays cut through the artifice of so much common theatre, they aren’t ripped from the headlines but they do hold a mirror up to our society” says RARE Theatre’s Executive Director, Nick Hutcheson.

Join the riveting performers Bilal Baig, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Radha S. Menon, Grace Thompson, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown and Carolyn Hetherington as they dive fearlessly into their particular Underworld. What each piece has is the joyous discovery of a unique self, whether it be gender fluid, queer, proudly disabled and Roma, non-human, wounded, or an elder; in the face of social oppression they are unafraid to roar: This is Me. I am Here. Deal with It.

Accompanying director Judith Thompson on this journey is Irish and Anishinaabe from Nipissing First Nation composer, Olivia Shortt, award-winning choreographer, Monica Dotter, and set designer, Brett Haynes. RARE Theatre is thrilled to welcome emerging lighting designer, Sharmylae Taffe-Fletcher to the RARE family.

“I am beyond honoured to be collaborating with these nine superb emerging playwrights; as a playwright myself I was lucky enough to ride on the crest of the wave of Canadian nationalism in the early eighties, and to see that work valued not only in Canada but all over the world. Now it is my privilege to present to you the theatrical voices of Canada now; voices that will change the way we see this country and ourselves.” says RARE Theatre’s Artistic Director, Judith Thompson.

With humour, honesty, rich writing and dynamic performances by an all-star cast of emerging and seasoned Canadian artists, Welcome to my Underworld is a theatrical experience that will thrill and entertain.

RARE Theatre Company and Soulpepper Theatre Company present
Welcome to my Underworld
Written by Bilal Baig, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown, Simone Dalton, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Carolyn Hetherington, Ellen Ringler, Radha S. Menon and Grace ThompsonDramaturged and Directed by Judith Thompson
May 8 – 25, 2019
Starring Bilal Baig, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Carolyn Hetherington, Radha S. Menon and Grace ThompsonChoreography by Monica DottorMusic by Olivia ShorttSet Design by Brett HaynesLighting Design by Sharmylae Taffe-FletcherStage Management by Jenna Borsato
Tankhouse Theatre, Young Centre for the Performing Arts
50 Tank House Lane,
Toronto, ON M5A 3C4

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