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Directed by: Diana Leblanc
Synopsis
Two people (married — but not to each other) meet for one weekend year after year in a nice little country inn. Only one weekend — after that they go back to their lives, their kids and their spouses. Over the course of 24 years, they develop an emotional intimacy deeper than what one would expect. The play conveys a rainbow of emotions over a quarter-century, as life gives and takes away, and the world continues to change. A smart and touching comedy! -
Bernard Slade
Born in St. Catherine’s Ontario, Bernard Slade began his theatre career acting in Canadian summer stock. His first project as a writer was an hour-long comedy that aired on the CBC-TV in 1958. When this work met with success in the American market, Slade made his way to Hollywood and, over the next decade, developed and wrote for many acclaimed television show such as The Partridge Family, Bewitched and The Flying Nun. Same Time, Next Year represented Slade’s return to theatre when it was taken to Broadway in 1975 and there garnered three Tony nominations, including Best Play, and won the Best Actress award for Ellen Burstyn. Slade adapted it to the critically-acclaimed 1978 film of the same title. Selected credits include: Simon Says Get Married (1960), A Very Close Family (1963), Tribute (1978), Romantic Comedy (1979), and Special Occasions (1982). -
DIRECTOR
DIANA LEBLANC
For the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, Rose (with Martha Henry), Fallen Angels, The Odd Couple, Tryst (with Michelle Giroux), Harvey (with R.H. Thomson), and A View from the Bridge. For Soulpepper Theatre (of which she is a founding member): The Maids, Zoo Story, The Real Thing, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Price, and A Long Day’s Journey into Night. Diana has also directed works at Stratford Festival, Neptune, Citadel Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Tarragon, Centaur Theatre, the National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, Mirvish Productions, and Canadian Opera Company. Her upcoming productions include, Guys and Dolls for the Segal Centre and Spring Awakening for George Brown Theatre School.STARRING
MICHELLE GIROUX, Doris
Michelle spent nine seasons as an actor at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Roles at Stratford include Rosaline in Love’s Labours Lost, Queen Isabella in Edward II, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest, Nina in The Seagull, Joan of Arc in Henry VI, Emilia in Two Noble Kinsmen, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Phoebe in As You Like It, Mary Robinson in The Swanne III, Katerina in The Brothers Karamazov and Jean-Louise in To Kill A Mockingbird. She has also appeared on Broadway as Elise in The Miser and at The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre as Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal. Michelle has also performed at The Factory Theatre, The Tarragon Theatre, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, Theatre Aquarius and The Segal Centre. Her television credits include Flashpoint, King, Murdoch Mysteries, Highland Gardens and the mini-series, John A: The Rivals. Her first feature film, Blood Pressure is due to be released this fall. Michelle is a graduate of The National Theatre School, The Birmingham Conservatory and The Actors’ Conservatory at The Canadian Film Centre.
RH THOMSON, George
R H Thomson has worked in theatre, film and television for 30 years. Most recently, he has appeared as Atticus Finch in 'To Kill A Mockingbird' at Theatre Calgary, in Wajdi Mouawad's 'Forests'" at the Tarragon Theatre and in the film ‘Chloe’ directed by Atom Egoyan. He has earned Gemini, Genie, Dora and Merritt awards for his work as well as the Gascon-Thomas Award and the Barbara Hamilton award for activism in the arts. He wrote and performed a solo theatre piece ‘The Lost Boys’ based on the 700 letters from his five great uncles who served in WWI. Mr. Thomson has worked on many arts/history/education projects. For the centennial of WWI, he is creating the multilingual international project, The World Remembers-Le Monde Se Souvient.
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
PHILLIP SILVER, Set and Lighting Design
Three-time Dora Award-winner Philip Silver currently serves as national president of the Associated Designers of Canada. His scenery, lighting and costume designs have been seen in close to 300 productions at major Canadian theatres, including Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, National Arts Centre, Soulpepper Theatre (Toronto), Harold Green Jewish Theatre (Toronto), Grand Theatre (London), Canadian Stage Company, Tarragon Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre and Canadian Opera Company. He was the Resident Designer for Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre from 1967 to 1978. He has consulted on several theatre building and renovation projects, including McGill’s Moyse Hall. His work was included in the Canadian exhibit at the international Prague Quadrennial of Scenography in both 1999 and 2003. For ten years Phil was dean of Fine Arts at York University. In 2008, he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
EO SHARP, Costume Designer
Eo Sharp is a Montreal-based designer who has designed sets and costumes for theatres across the country. Designs at the Segal include sets and costumes for Buried Child (2009) and A Doll’s House (2006). Recent productions in Montreal include Champs de Mars (Imago Theatre) and A Comedy of Errors (Centaur Theatre/NAC). This past year EO was awarded the Capital Critics award for the design of Saint Carmen of the Main, a co-production between The National Arts Centre and Canadian Stage.
KEITH THOMAS, Sound design
As well as writing music for TV and film, Keith has composed for 22 seasons at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and for over a dozen productions at The Guthrie in Minneapolis. Previously at the Segal, he has had the pleasure of collaborating with Diana Leblanc on Tryst, Rose and Harvey. Locally, Keith has composed and performed the music for Joe Louis: An American Romance and Father Land (Infinitheatre), as well as Anna in the Tropics and Tiger’s Heart (Centaur Theatre). Keith is delighted to be back at the Segal Centre and to be reunited once again with such a talented team.
MELANIE ST-JACQUES, Stage Manager
Melanie has been working as a Stage Manager for 12 years. Segal credits include: Houdini, Fallen Angels, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (MTC/Segal co-pro), Man of LaMancha. Other selected credits: Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Andersen’s Inkwell, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, The Little Prince and Alice Through the Looking Glass (Geordie Productions); In Absentia, Schwartz’s The Musical, Don Quixote, Michel and Ti Jean, Doubt, The Carpenter, The Caretaker, Condoville, Long Days Journey Into Night, Proof, Copenhagen, Art, Dinner With friends (Centaur Theatre), and A Few Good Men (Neptune Theatre). Melanie is one of the co-founding members of Segal Studio Resident Company Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre, who will be presenting The Heretics of Bohemia in the Segal Studio opening in May. Melanie is a graduate of the Dawson Theatre Program in Montreal and currently teaches Stage Management at the National Theatre School of Canada.
DANIELLE SKENE, Apprentice Stage Manager
Danielle has been working in professional theatre for over fourteen years as an actor, teacher, administrator, playwright and stage manager. Same Time, Next Year marks Danielle’s first production with the Segal Centre. Her most recent credits include Ars Poetica (Infinithéâtre) , The Little Prince (Geordie Productions) and Gemini (Dawson College Theatre Program).
GEORGE ALLISTER, Video Composition
Same Time, Next Year marks George's seventh projection design for the Segal Centre stage. This season, in collaboration with Patrick Boivin, George designed the video for Equus and Scientific Americans. Past Segal Centre credits include Lies My Father Told Me (2011), A View From the Bridge (2010), Tryst (2009) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008). Outside the Segal Centre, George was also responsible for the video in Geordie Productions' For Arts Sake (2010) at the Centaur Theatre and InfinitTheatre's production of Leisure Society (2012). A Montreal native and graduate from Ryerson University (Toronto), George currently works full time as the Segal Centre's Multimedia Producer.
PATRICK BOIVIN, Video Composition
Patrick is a video designer, electronic musician and artist based in Montreal. Past credits include: co-creator and video specialist in a creation workshop for The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst (Calgary’s Ghost River Productions & Vancouver’s Rumble Productions, 2011), co-designing the video projections for Equus (2011) and Scientific Americans (2012) at the Segal Theatre, and the Leisure Society (2012) for Infinitheatre, with regular collaborator George Allister. Most recently, he co-created a series of videos for the Segal musical community Fundraiser, Curtains Up, Hit the Lights! At the end of May, he will be presenting a video piece during the Chromatic MASSIVart event, held at the SAT. Patrick is a Montreal native and graduated from Concordia in Communication Studies. Other work includes video editing for visual artists Sylvia Safdie and Geneviève Cadieux.
Press Reviews
BY PAT DONNELLY, THE GAZETTE, MAY 5, 2012
Read the article
Canadian playwright Bernard Slade wrote his witty take on adultery, Same Time, Next Year, back in 1975 when the sexual revolution was at its peak, AIDS was not known to exist and the earworm theme from the 1965 film Dr. Zhivago still rode the airwaves. (Lara was not the poet's wife.)
Within the context of its time, this tale of annual trysts between two married people was more comforting than disturbing. It assured people that long-term affairs, just like marriages, develop their own routines - becoming a kind of parallel union or bigamous bond in which conversation is as important as the illusion of no-strings-attached sex.
Although it has elements of farce (the romantic French kind rather than the naughty British variety), Same Time, Next Year reflects on time and the evolving nature of North American society while offering two juicy roles requiring masterful acting skills. (Ellen Burstyn won a Tony in the Broadway play before starring in the film.)
Last presented at the Segal Centre (then known as the Saidye Bronfman Centre) about 30 years ago, Same Time, Next Year has since been performed widely in Quebec summer theatre, at Theatre Lac Brome, Echo Art Theatre, The Piggery, Village Theatre in Hudson (twice), and many, many times in French.
Actors never tire of doing it, audiences love it and overexposed reviewers, such as myself, get won over time and time again. The production that just opened at the Segal Centre, starring R.H. Thomson and Michelle Giroux is the best I've ever seen.
For one thing, director Diana Leblanc has come up with an imaginative solution to the play's major drawback: necessary blackouts that allow costume changes to indicate the passage of time. Rather than add a comedic chamber maid to fluff the pillows as others have done, she has brought in projection designer (George Allister) who has created collages of images of each era, from 1951 to 1975, accompanied by aptly chosen tunes and sound bites. These nostalgic interludes featuring Buick ads, shots of Marilyn Monroe and Expo '67 are almost as interesting as the play.
As always, however, it's the acting that matters most. Although I had qualms about the nearly 30-year gap between Thomson and Giroux, skills are what matter most. Giroux, who once played a notable Lady Bracknell during her National Theatre School days, has always been good at aging up, while Thomson, at 64, remains a credible temptation to womankind as well as one of the country's finest actors.
His George is a lovably insecure hypocrite with a mile-wide streak of human decency. He briefly swings to the right after his son is killed in Vietnam but gradually becomes a laid-back California lefty with a butterfly embroidered on his blue jeans.
It's Doris, however, who goes through the most radical transformations, from uneducated housewife to Berkley University hippie to hard-nosed businesswoman. They're always a bit out of sync with each other. She's into antiwar demonstrations when he's voting Republican. Yet they always find common ground and conversation. Giroux deftly registers the highs and lows of a complicated situation.
For a funny, intelligent piece of date-night theatre that's satisfying like a good meal in your favourite restaurant, look no further. This is it.
Same Time, Next Year, by Bernard Slade, at the Segal Centre through May 20. Call 514-739-7944 or visit www. segalcentre.org
© Copyright (c) The Montreal GazetteDate: 2012-05-05
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