The

New Canadian Curling ClubBy MARK CRAWFORD

January 23 to February 1, 2020 | SAGEBRUSH THEATRE

In association with Thousand Islands PlayhouseGananoque, ON

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GOVERNMENT FUNDERS

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THE NEW CANADIAN CURLING CLUB SHOW SPONSORS

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The Sagebrush Theatre now has hearing assist listening systems. And both the Pavilion and Sagebrush theatres are wheelchair accessible and equipped with wheelchair-seating locations. Please see the House Manager for details.

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Electronic Devices: Please turn off all cellular phones and watch alarms prior to the show. Due to copyright regulations, the use of cameras and other video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

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WELCOME!Hurry hard!

When I arrived in Kamloops three years ago, one of my first stops was at a curling club. I’d played a bit in Edmonton, and I knew that the club would be a great place to meet new people, engage in some camaraderie, and enjoy the odd beverage with friends.

When I was growing up, the game was still largely played by middle-aged men with cigars and old corn brooms, but Canada’s success in the sport has introduced the game to an exciting new demographic. Our competitive teams from across the country – including right here at home (Go Team Brown!, winners of silver last month at the China Open) – are a source of national pride every winter.

Curling is a quintessential Canadian game: it can be highly competitive, but there’s always a way to blow off steam, with a pause for a moment of reflection or refreshment. Plus, it’s cold, so nobody gets too hot-headed. It’s also an egalitarian sport, played by young and old, and enjoyed by couch potatoes and the very fit.

Mark Crawford is one of our great current Canadian playwrights, largely because of his ability to interweave topical current subjects with terrific humour and a true understanding of our touchpoints of Canadian identity. He has the rare gift of provoking an audience’s intellect and challenging our perceptions of the world, while making us laugh and allowing us to enjoy a good story.

On a sad note, we recently experienced a loss in our WCT family with the passing of long-time volunteer and former front-of-house employee Phyllis Mader. Phyllis was a kind, generous person who lit up our theatres. Her spirit of volunteerism and love of the arts was recognized just this fall, when she was nominated for a Mayor’s Award for the Arts as an “Enduring Supporter”. We extend our condolences to her family and friends. We will all miss her.

Thanks again for coming, and enjoy the show.

James MacDonald, Artistic Director of WCT

on the TNRD Mainstage:SERVING ELIZABETH

February 20 to 29SAGEBRUSH THEATRE

DETAILS AT wctlive.ca

on New Gold Studio Stage:CAFÉ DAUGHTER

March 12 to 21PAVILION THEATRE

DETAILS AT wctlive.ca

We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live, create and perform in the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc territory within the traditional lands of the Secwépemc Nation.

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PHYLLIS MADEREmily-May Photography

1

Proud to sponsorThe New Canadian Curling Club

WCT STAFFJAMES MACDONALD Artistic DirectorEVAN KLASSEN Managing Director

ADMINISTRATIONTERRI RUNNALLS Education & Outreach DirectorRON THOMPSON Finance DirectorSUSAN THOMPSON Accounting AssistantCATRINA CROWE Marketing & Communications DirectorFRANKIE KNIGHT Digital Media CoordinatorSUZAN GOGUEN Growth & Engagement DirectorROGER DOWNIE Fund Development ManagerALI WEBSTER Special Events ManagerSARAH BLUMEL Fund Development Coordinator

PRODUCTIONDAWN BERGSTROM ProducerBILL CHABASSOL Production ManagerBRIAN ST-AMAND Sagebrush Technical DirectorPAUL CUTHBERT Sagebrush Assistant Technical DirectorLIAM BEFURT Associate Technical Director CINDY WIEBE Head of WardrobeRORY LYNCH Head of Scenic CarpentryANGELA FRYE Head of Properties SELENA “TWITCH” TOBIN Intern Production Manager/

Technical DirectorRYAN PINETTE Production Assistant

David Ross † Tom Kerr ‡

Judge T.W. Shupe §

D. Michael Dobbin *Peggy Gilmour *Francis Barnett *Mike Latta *

TIM RODGERS PresidentLORI BREGOLISSGRANT CHU BEVERLEY DESANTISWESLEY ECCLESTONSHARON FRISSELLBERNICE JENSENNENA JOCIC-ANDREJEVICCHRYSTIE STEWART

Anne Manson *Maureen Marshall *Lanni Shupe *

§ Honorary Life Chairman* Honorary Life Member†Honorary Life Artistic Producer‡ Founding Artistic Director

BOARD

SPECIAL THANKS BLYTH FESTIVAL HILLTOP BARBER SHOPKENNELL’S SHOESCHARLOTTE WAGNER

JAMES BEFURT Senior Venue TechnicianBRITTNEY MARTENS Scenic PainterMELISSA PURCHA Movement Consultant

VENUE SERVICESSHEVAUN FORTUNE Venue Services DirectorMICHELLE CHABASSOL Venue Services

CoordinatorALLISON BREGOLISS Volunteer CoordinatorMORGAN BENEDICT House ManagerHouse Staff:

AMANDA BREUER, NICOLLE DUPONT, MAXWELL GALLAGHER, BERT KEEPER, JAKOB KOPYTKO, KELLY MCCALLUM, LIZ SPIVEY

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FUNDERSThe City of KamloopsCanada Council for the ArtsDepartment of Canadian Heritage

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FOUNDATIONSBC Interior Community FoundationRBC Emerging Artists ProjectThe Hamber Foundation

PRESENTING PARTNERKelson Group, Ron & Rae Fawcett

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Western Canada Theatre gratefully acknowledges the following government agencies, corporations, foundations, and individuals for their generous contributions through sponsorships and/or charitable donations. We thank everyone who plays their important part in helping us to bring the highest quality of work to the broadest possible audience.

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FOR SPONSORING

THE WCT 2019-20 MAINSTAGE SERIES

THANK YOU TO THE

THOMPSON-NICOLA REGIONAL DISTRICT

FOR SPONSORING

THE WCT 2019-20 MAINSTAGE SERIES

THANK YOU TO THE

THOMPSON-NICOLA REGIONAL DISTRICT

FOR SPONSORING

THE WCT 2019-20 MAINSTAGE SERIES

Western Canada Theatre is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. WCT wishes to acknowledge the generous support of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

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THE NEW CANADIAN CURLING CLUB was commissioned and develped by the Blyth Festival and premiered there on June 22, 2018.

THE NEW CANADIAN CURLING CLUB is produced by permission of the Playwright and Marquis Literary (Colin Rivers) www.mqlit.ca.

Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes, including one intermission

CREATIVE TEAMANDREW KUSHNIR Director

STEVE LUCAS Set & Lighting Designer

VICTORIA WALLACE Costume Designer

VERNE GOOD Sound Designer

MADISON HENRY Stage Manager

COLE VINCENT Assistant Stage Manager

The

New Canadian Curling ClubBy MARK CRAWFORD

FEATURINGGUY BANNERMAN Stuart MacPhailJENNI BURKE Charmaine BaileyRICHARD LAM Mike ChangPARMIDA VAND Fatima Al-SayedRICHARD YOUNG Anoopjeet Singh

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Norm & HeidiBryson

778-469-5406email: info@gatewayrepairs.ca #102-7905 Dallas Drive, Kamloops

“Becoming a group is an achievement.” This deceptively simple insight comes from a professor friend of mine who happens to research (among many things) how caring bonds can form between strangers. It takes more than a shared space and a shared activity to truly bring people together and make them feel like they’re part of something bigger. What is it that makes a place of work, of worship, a classroom come alive in a positive way for all? How is a group of people – a community – actually achieved in team sports, and the theatre?

Through his signature comedy, playwright Mark Crawford gets us thinking about the power of stories – and what can happen when we authentically listen. The so-called ‘new Canadians’ in the play are all immigrants but their backgrounds and particular life circumstances couldn’t be more different. At the outset, they really only have one clear thing in common: they’ve never been invited into the town curling rink or into Canada’s obsession with “chess on ice”. By the time they arrive at their bonspiel (“Don’t call it a tournament!”), something has shifted, or (dare I say) curled. How do we make the curling rink or any community space as welcoming and inclusive as possible? What do we have to let go of to make some room on the ice? In these questions, curling and theatre don’t feel that far apart to me. Whether it’s throwing rocks down a sheet or laughing together in a darkened auditorium, the space and activity are secondary to the potential achievement: becoming a bigger, better and more compassionate group. It’s truly wonderful to have you join us today in that undertaking and possibility.

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MARK CRAWFORD’s work has been produced across the country and internationally. His other plays are Stag and Doe; Bed and Breakfast; The Birds and the Bees (which was produced at WCT in 2018); and Boys, Girls, and Other Mythological Creatures. As an actor, he has performed on stages from coast to coast, most recently in Ed’s Garage in Port Stanley and Bed and Breakfast in Blyth, Vancouver, Regina, Ottawa, Victoria and Montreal. Mark grew up on his family’s farm near Glencoe, Ontario, studied theatre at the University of Toronto and Sheridan College, and now lives in Stratford.

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CASTGUY BANNERMANStuart MacPhailAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: Born in Vancouver, Guy has worked across Canada, including five seasons at the Stratford Festival (Tyrone Guthrie Award) and 29 seasons (4,000 performances) at the Shaw Festival (Newton Award, Paul Reynolds Award). Working in the Banff Centre’s Playwrights’ Workshop for seven sessions honed Guy’s interest in new plays, and his thesis on workshopping earned him an MA (Drama) at the University of Essex, UK. With colleague Sharry Flett, Guy teaches for Queen’s University, and other institutions, specializing in “Victorian Costumes and Customs.” Guy’s most recent Western appearance was at Theatre Calgary in The Philadelphia Story in 2015. TV: As well as roles in Murdoch Mysteries, Warehouse 13 and The Firm, Guy is the voice of Mr. Bear on Rupert the Bear.

JENNI BURKECharmaine BaileyAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: Select theatre credits: A Christmas Carol (National Arts Centre); King Lear, Twelfth Night, Little Shop of Horrors (Canadian Stage); The Wars, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (The Grand); Mamma Mia! (Citadel Theatre); The New Canadian Curling Club (Alberta Theatre Projects); Bang Bang (Magnus Theatre); Funny Girl (Segal Centre); Intimate Apparel (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre); Mary Poppins, The Drowsy Chaperone (Globe Theatre); Mamma Mia!, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Chemainus Theatre); You Can’t Take It With You, The Sunshine Boys, and Oliver (Thousand Islands

GUY BANNERMAN JENNI BURKE RICHARD LAM

Playhouse). Film & TV: Sensitive Skin, Rookie Blue, Da Kink in my Hair, Blues Brothers 2000, Half Baked, Undercover Brother, The Music Man. Upcoming: Da Kink in My Hair (Arts Club); Sleeping Beauty (Drayton).

RICHARD LAMMike ChangAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: Over 30 Equity productions, with companies including Soulpepper Theatre (2013-2017), Signature Theater (NYC Off-Broadway), Canadian Stage, Citadel Theatre, Charlottetown Festival, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Bad Hats Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Talk Is Free Theatre. Six Dora Mavor Moore award nominations, two wins (Toronto). Other: Richard is a proud Canadian Actors’ Equity Councillor for Ontario and a labour organizer for Foodsters United (CUPW) in Toronto. He is the guitarist in the rock band James King and the Midnight Hours and is a passionate Irish Folk musician. He holds a BA in Political Science from UBC/Sciences Po Paris, a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta, and is a graduate of the Soulpepper Academy. Love to Mom, Dad, Steve, and Crystal. Follow me on instagram @rickyslams!

PARMIDA VANDFatima Al-SayedAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: Winter ’88 (Nowadays for Next Stage Festival); 1837: The Farmer’s Revolt, The New Canadian Curling Club (Blyth Festival); Rumi’s Fables (Ottawa Chamber Festival); Taken (Universal for NBC); and We Have Always Been Here (Penguin Randomhouse). Other: Graduate of George Brown Theatre School. Parmida is excited to be returning to The New Canadian Curling Club in Kamloops. She dedicates this

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performance to all the parents who have sacrificed everything to give their children a better future, especially her own. When she’s not acting, Parmida is an avid musician and songwriter. Keep up with Parmida on Instagram - @oneunderpar.

RICHARD YOUNG Anoopjeet Singh At WCT: DebutElsewhere: The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome (Toronto Fringe – My Entertainment World Critics’ Pick Award Nominee); and The New Canadian Curling Club (Thousand Islands Playhouse & Alberta Theatre Projects – Betty Mitchell Award Nominee). TV: Taken (NBC); Kim’s Convenience (CBC); The Strain (FX); Endlings (Hulu-CBC). Screenwriting: 16 Hudson (TVO); Sudden Master (OMNI/Rogers); Miss Persona (TreehouseTV – Story Editor). Other: Richard was a 2019 Just For Laughs ComedyPRO Pitch Finalist for the South Asian-American television series he co-created. He is also an advocate, both for artists, as an ACTRA National Councillor, and for his own stomach, as a lover of cooking. Twitter/Instagram: @RichardYoungRY

RICHARD YOUNG

CREATIVETEAM

STEVE LUCASANDREW KUSHNIR

ANDREW KUSHNIRDirectorAt WCT: Peter in Peter and the StarcatcherElsewhere: Andrew works as a director, playwright, actor and community arts worker. Recent directing credits include Freedom Singer (Project: Humanity, national tours), Shirley Valentine (Thousand

Islands Playhouse), and Towards Youth: a play on radical hope (co-directed, PH/Crow’s Theatre). His produced plays (as playwright) include The Middle Place, Wormwood, Small Axe, The Gay Heritage Project (with Paul Dunn and Damien Atkins), and most recently, Towards Youth. He is artistic director of the socially engaged theatre company Project: Humanity (PH). PH is a leading developer of Verbatim Theatre and provider of drama programming in Toronto’s youth shelter system. Other: Andrew attended the University of Alberta as a Loran Scholar. He is the inaugural recipient of the Shevchenko Foundation’s REACH artist residency prize, which is supporting a new project about his grandfather, a prominent Ukrainian-Canadian watchmaker.

STEVE LUCASSet and Lighting DesignerAt WCT: Production Designer for 2 Pianos, 4 HandsElsewhere: The Physicists, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Nathan the Wise (The Stratford Festival); 1979 (GCTC, The Shaw Festival); Of Marriage and Men (The Shaw Festival); 2 Pianos 4 Hands (original production and tours); The Drawer Boy (original production and tour, Theatre Passe Muraille); The Syringa Tree (The Grand Theatre); Rope Enough (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre); The Real McCoy (Factory Theatre); Timecode Break (Toronto Dance Theatre); The Pigeon King (Blyth Festival); Step Right Up! (Theatre Orangeville); 7 Important Things (STO Union); BREATH[e] (Theatre 2.0); Shadowball (AGO); Heisenberg (Canadian Stage); Fool for Love (Soulpepper); 2014 Festival Hub (Luminato Festival); and Fun House (Nuit Blanche).

MADISON HENRYVERNE GOOD COLE VINCENT

VICTORIA WALLACECostume DesignerAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: The Ward (David Buchbinder Works); Here are the Fragments (Theatre Centre); Every Brilliant Thing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night (Canadian Stage); The Gift of The Magi, The Coyotes (Caravan Farm Theatre); Les Misérables, Chekhov’s Heartache, In the Ravine (Theatre Smith-Gilmore); A Doll’s House, Tartuffe, The Barber of Seville, Endgame (Soulpepper Theatre); Oedipus Rex (Stratford Festival); Peace in Our Time (Shaw Festival); Happy Days, and And Up They Flew (Theatre Columbus). Other: Dora Awards for Outstanding Costume Design for A Doll’s House and The Bald Soprano. Guest Instructor and Designer for University of Toronto, Memorial University, Sheridan College, Ryerson and George Brown Theatre School.

VERNE GOODSound DesignerAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: Sound and Composition: Othello (Stratford), Birds of a Feather, Outside (Roseneath); You Will Remember Me (Tarragon/Studio 180); The Normal Heart (Studio 180); The Atomic Weight of Happiness (StandUp Dance); Sound Design: Pericles, Romeo and Juliet, Long Day’s Journey into Night, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hirsch (Stratford); The Mountaintop, Art, Fences (The Grand); The Pigeon King, The New Canadian Curling Club (Blyth); The 39 Steps [Dora Nomination] (Soulpepper); Up The Garden Path (Obsidian); Bang Bang (Factory); Communion, Was Spring, Cake and Dirt (Tarragon); Free as Injuns (Native Earth); Mamma Mia!, Legally Blonde [The Lawyer Shows] (Nightwood Theatre). Upcoming: Designs for The Grand and Stratford.

VICTORIA WALLACE

MADISON HENRYStage ManagerAt WCT: The Sound of Music, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Meet My Sister, Kamloopa, Armstrong’s War, A Christmas Carol, Million Dollar Quartet, and The House at Pooh Corner.Elsewhere: The New Canadian Curling Club, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Silent Light (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity); Kamloopa (The Cultch, Persephone Theatre); and Th’owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish (Axis Theatre). Other: Maddy is a multi-discipline Stage Manager based in Kamloops and a graduate of the TRU Theatre Program. She is thrilled to be reunited with this incredible team to bring this fantastic show to her hometown! To Andrew, this wonderous cast and creative team, and – of course – Cole: thank you for your positivity and glittering remarks. Many thanks to James, Dawn and the team at TIP for having her on this production, and to Greg for his love and support.

COLE VINCENTAssistant Stage ManagerAt WCT: DebutElsewhere: Previous credits include The Pianist of Willesden Lane (Harold Green Jewish Theatre); Aqsarniit, Anne of Green Gables, Jesus Christ Superstar (The Charlottetown Festival); Eraser (The Riser Project - Why Not Theatre); Rose (Soulpepper); The Glass Menagerie (Grand Theatre); Birds of a Feather (Roseneath Theatre); King Lear, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and All’s Well That Ends Well (Canadian Stage). Other: Cole has also been a Venue Stage Manager at the Toronto International Film Festival and holds a BFA Theatre Production and Design from York University. Originally from Grand Bend, ON, Cole loves long walks on the beach and riding around on the subway in Toronto, where he currently lives.

From antiquity to present day, storytellers have worked to re-create the kinetic, lively, and performative character of sport. Whether trying to capture the spirit of victory or the pain of defeat, authors from every period and every culture have attempted to convey what distinguishes sport as significant to their lives. These sport stories have traditionally taken the form of literary works, such as Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, or non-fiction texts, such as Theoren Fleury’s Playing with Fire. But in recent years, dramatists have become increasingly interested in telling sport stories and using the theatre to re-create their material realities onstage. These sport dramas employ the theatre’s immediacy and physicality to tell compelling sport stories and allow audiences to become immersed in the sights, sounds, and sensations of a live sporting event. For this reason, sport dramas have become an emerging and exciting theatrical genre, including such varied examples as Sarah Delappe’s The Wolves, Tomson Highway’s Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, and Tracey Power’s GLORY, which debuted at Western Canada Theatre in 2018.

With The New Canadian Curling Club, Mark Crawford adds another compelling entry to the growing catalogue of contemporary sport dramas. Like those playwrights before him, Crawford uses his play to communicate something greater about sports and their broader cultural or personal significance. What distinguishes this sport drama is that it uses curling to explore what it means to be Canadian today. Curling offers many opportunities for compelling storytelling, especially in a Canadian context. The oldest sport club in North America is a Canadian curling club (The Royal Montreal Curling Club), and these cultural institutions have been the site of community building for more than two centuries. Crawford uses the curling rink, an emblematic gathering place in Canada, to bring together individuals with different nationalities, identities, and worldviews, thus reconsidering what it means to be a modern Canadian.

The familiar setting of small-town Canada in winter serves as the backdrop for this sport drama, but the inclusion of a diverse cast of characters gives an innovative twist to the classic underdog story. Brought together through their shared experience of sport, the members of The New Canadian Curling Club negotiate different linguistic, national, or generational barriers to establish a sense of unity, regardless of their perceived cultural differences. In The New Canadian Curling Club, sport is not perfect, nor are the individuals that participate in it. What curling does offer is the opportunity for this group of new and established Canadians to find both the house and a home.

Dr. Brittany ReidLecturerDepartment of English and Modern LanguagesThompson Rivers University

PROGRAM NOTESFINDING BOTH THE HOUSE AND HOME IN THE NEW CANADIAN CURLING CLUB

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Enjoy the Show!

SOME FEAR THE FUTURE. OTHERS DRIVE IT.Live today with a love for tomorrow. Here’s to hitting the fast lane while skipping the gas lane. Here’s to do-ing good and looking good doing it. There’s no better feeling than arriving in a car as beautiful and sleek as the Honda Insight, except the satisfaction of knowing it’s also a hybrid. This hybrid is on a mission to do good for the earth, and your look. Sporting a wide, powerful stance complete with Honda’s signature fly-ing wing grille and bold facia, the Insight is the perfect accessory to your driveway.

HALF ART, HALF SCIENCE. ALL STYLE.When the flagship sedan embraces innovative hybrid technology, you get an Accord that spends less time at the pump without sacrificing performance and comfort. When a car looks this good, it’s hard not to brag, once seated, refined, luxurious features surround you. When it comes to efficiency, the Accord Hybrid can be summed up in five words: top-class fuel consumption ratings. But why stop there? The innovative third-generation two-motor hybrid powertrain proves the Accord Hybrid is not joking around. Don’t be shy. Say hello to the All Luxury Accord Hybrid Sedan.

POWER YOUR TRIP WITH ELECTRIC OR GAS.Offering the benefits of an electric car, with the freedom of a hybrid. Using high-capacity batteries for all-elec-tric driving and, and a gas-powered engine as back up. Recharge the battery while cruising, regenerative braking recharges the battery every time the accelera-tor is lifted and each time the brakes are applied. Use the gas powered engine, battery powered electricity or a combina-tion of both. Your choice!

Honda HybridLuxury & Style Meet Efficency

Kamloops HondaProudly supporting

Western Canada Theatre www.kamloopshonda.ca