The Great Canadian Theatre Company Opens 2023-24 Season With THE SUPINE COBBLER

The Great Canadian Theatre Company opens its 23-24 Season on September 28th, with a production of Jill Connell’s The Supine Cobbler. Directed by Emily Pearlman, the show is playful, funny, delicate and surprising. 

Playwright Jill Connell, described by Vue Weekly as “consistently one of the most innovative playwrights in the country,” harnesses the macho Western genre and populates it with a gang of female outcasts and misfits. There is an abortion at the center of the story without commenting on it – it’s not gruesome or tragic – it’s just an ordinary occurrence in this woman’s life one day, and then her day goes on. What’s extraordinary are the relationships onstage. It’s populated by the intimacy of female friendship, as these women have long overdue conversations. 

The Supine Cobbler adapts Western tropes while playfully turning that world on its head to tell the tale of one woman’s abortion. In the Western genre, life and death are unsentimental. Wilderness is interior and exterior, survival and one-upmanship are supreme, and friendships are everything.

“I’m so thrilled by the opportunity to helm a largely local artistic team, putting up the extraordinary and urgent work of Ottawa born Playwright, Jill Connell,” says Director Emily Pearlman. “People you know are making decisions about their bodies in a climate where the rules are constantly changing. How do you negotiate integrity when things change in an instant? This play addresses very timely and important issues.”

The show will run for two weeks at GCTC’s Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre.

Cast:

Maryse Fernandes | The Cobbler
Tara Paterson | The Dancer
Deena Aziz | The Doctor
Ellie Ellwand | The Kid
Kelsey Rideout | The Lover

Creative Team:

Sage Reynolds | Sound Design/Musician
Vanessa Imeson | Costume Design
Emilio Sebastiao | Lighting Design
Julia Kim | Set/Props DesignJackie McCormick | Stage Manager
Kristina Watt | Artistic Associate
Nathan McConnell | Assistant Stage Manager