John Gray, celebrated playwright and composer, is coming to town as part of the Festival Players Playwrights Reading Series. Gray’s new version of his musical Amelia: The Girl Who Wants to Fly, plays in the 2010 season. Gray will be at Books & Company in Picton, on Thursday, April 29^th at 7pm. Admission is free and there will be a wine and cheese reception. 

Halifax-born, Vancouver-based playwright and composer John Gray is best known for his award-winning and internationally acclaimed musical about a World War I flying ace, Billy Bishop Goes to War. Gray recently reprised his original role in that show, with co-creator Eric Peterson, over two sold-out runs at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto. 

Come meet the playwright, and be treated to a preview of the show itself. Eliza-Jane Scott, who starred in both Ship of Fire and Colours in the Storm in 2009 and who will take on the title role in Amelia this year, will perform a brief excerpt from the play. 

Gray has garnered many prestigious awards for his work, including Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Rock and Roll, and the Los Angeles Critics Drama Award, the Governor General’s Award, and the Chalmers Canadian Play Award for Billy Bishop Goes to War. He has won several National Magazine Awards and penned a popular series of Victorian mystery novels. Gray was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2000. A legend in Canadian theatre, he will regale you with tales sure to amuse and inform. 

Amelia is the story of the meteoric rise and mysterious disappearance of the legendary Amelia Earhart, pioneering aviatrix. Earhart rose to unimaginable heights, literally and figuratively. This new musical re-imagines her transformation from the “girl next door” to the iconic first woman in flight. Inspiring, insightful and entertaining. It’s part biography, part love story, part thrill of the flight – and chock full of wonderful music. 

For more information: 613.399.5677 or www.festivalplayers.ca 

Playwrights Reading Series Thursday, April 29, 7pm
With Amelia playwright John Gray
Books & Company, 289 Main Street, Picton 

Robert Chafe

Festival Players is having the writers over for tea and a chat - and you’re invited! First up is Robert Chafe, whose play Tempting Providence is playing as part of the 2010 season. The reading takes place Sunday, March 28, at 2pm at Books & Company in Picton. Admission is free and refreshments are provided.

Robert Chafe’s work has been seen across Canada, the U.K., and Australia. He is the author of fifteen stage scripts and co-author of another ten. He frequently collaborates with Siminovitch Prize winning director Jillian Keiley. Two of his plays (Tempting Providence and Butler’s Marsh) were published in 2004 and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Drama. Tempting Providence, directed by Keiley and produced by Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, is entering its eighth year of national and international touring, and has been nominated for two Betty Mitchell Awards (Calgary), a Dora Mavor Moore Award (Toronto) and was recently awarded the Capital Critics Circle Award for Best Production after its run in Ottawa. Chafe has been writer in residence at Artistic Fraud, Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre and Forest Forge Theatre, Hampshire, U.K., and a guest instructor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and the National Theatre School of Canada.

Tempting Providence was commissioned by Theatre Newfoundland Labrador in 2000 and since its premiere production has played over 370 times in over 90 communities across Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia, and this year will add the U.S. to its touring schedule. Festival Players is delighted to bring this production to our community.

Admission to the Playwrights Reading Series is free. Light refreshments available. For more information call 613.399.5677.

Playwrights Reading Series Sunday, March 28, 2pm

With Tempting Providence playwright Robert Chafe

Books & Company, 289 Main Street, Picton