ABRAHAM LINCOLN GOES TO THE THEATRE Opens Great Canadian Theatre Company Season

Great Canadian Theatre Company will open its 25-26 Season with Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre - from award-winning French-Canadian Playwright Larry Tremblay, in translation by Chantal Bilodeau. Running October 28 - November 9 at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre is directed by GCTC Artistic Director Sarah Kitz, and is brought to life by a trio of local actors: Drew Moore, Peter James Haworth & Vincent Leblanc-Beaudoin.

“Imagine if Christopher Nolan made a comedy!” says director Sarah Kitz. “This show gives you the feeling of being on the ride of a great cerebral thriller, but with characters who have been stolen out of a comedy. It's a fever dream, an intricate puzzle, and a full-on laugh riot that goes bad. Don't expect a historical drama.”

Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre is a darkly funny puzzle box of a show about celebrity, theatre, reality, impossible love and the true face of America. When John Wilkes Booth, a well-known stage actor, shot Abraham Lincoln during a performance in April of 1865, he kidnapped reality and transformed it into theatre. Generations later, Mark Killman, a feared but much-admired director, hires two actors to bring Lincoln's assassination to the stage. The actors play comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, while Killman plays Lincoln as a wax figure.

Larry Tremblay – a playwright, poet, novelist, and essayist – has authored nearly forty books. His works are known for their dreamlike and fantastical qualities, paired with sharp, vivid imagery and rhythmic precision.Tremblay was a finalist in 2008 and in 2011 for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre and was a four-time nominee for the Governor General's Award. 

Chantal Bilodeau is a playwright, translator, and the founding artistic director of the New York-based Arts & Climate Initiative. Her translations include over twenty plays by contemporary playwrights.