Alumnae Theatre Company Announces January 2017 Production of THE GUT GIRLS

Part of their Retrospective Series leading up to their 100th anniversary in 2017/18, the Alumnae Theatre Company is proud to present British dramatist Sarah Daniels' THE GUT GIRLS. Surprisingly funny and hard-hitting, this beautifully written piece follows the fortunes of the proud and brash working-class gut girls. When the gutting sheds are shut and their way of life disappears, the girls must try and find a place in the new world order of late Victorian London. Commissioned to write a play that would appeal to unionized workers during the Thatcher era, Daniels' THE GUT GIRLS explores issues of women's and workers' rights, the burden of social expectations, and the struggle for self-worth.

The cast features such seasoned, indie, and emerging artists as Nicole Arends (YPT, Mask Atelier, Tree of Life Theatre), Alexandra Augustine (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui), Kaya Bucholc (Guild Festival Theatre, title role in Antigone with Alumnae), Mike Hogan (Hart House Theatre, Rarely Pure Theatre), Claire Keating (Gateway Theatre, Ireland), Tasia Loeffler-Vulpe (Randolph Academy), Brendan O'Reilly (Filament Incubator), and Sarah Thorpe (Heretic, Soup Can Theatre), lead by the creative team of Director Maya Rabinovitch (I Will Not Hatch, The Steady State Theatre Project), Set Designer Marysia Bucholc (Dora Nominee - Kafka and Son), Costume/Prop Designer Orly Zebak (Canadian Rep Theatre), and Lighting/Sound Designer Julie Skene (Halloween Haunt, Canada's Wonderland).

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

Where: Alumnae Theatre (Mainstage), 70 Berkeley Street, Toronto.

When: January 20 to February 4, 2017. Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m.

Tickets: Regular tickets are $20. Wednesday performances have 2-for-1 tickets. Sunday performances are PWYC. Flex Passes are available. Tickets can be purchased online at AlumnaeTheatre.com/Tickets or by calling 416-364-4170, ext. 1.

CAST:

Lady Helena - Nicole Arends

Polly - Alexandra Augustine

Maggie/Nora/Edna - Kaya Bucholc

Harry/Arthur/Len/Madjacko - Mike Hogan

Annie/Emily/Eady - Claire Keating

Kate - Tasia Loeffler-Vulpe

Jim/Edwin - Brendan O'Reilly

Ellen/Priscilla - Sarah Thorpe*

*appears courtesy of Canadian Actors' Equity Association

CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAM:

Director - Maya Rabinovtich

Set Designer - Marysia Bucholc

Costume/Prop Designer - Orly Zebak

Lighting/Sound Designer - Julie Skene

Stage Manager/Assistant Director - Alia Etienne

Producers - Wendel Wray & Sarah Thorpe

About Alumnae Theatre:

The Alumnae Theatre Company is dedicated to the production of adventurous, high-quality theatre not readily seen elsewhere, and to the promotion and skill development of women in theatre. Based in a beautiful theatre space - a converted fire hall at Berkeley and Adelaide - the Alumnae produces a full season each year consisting of three productions on the Mainstage, one play series in the Studio space (Fireworks), and one festival of new works also in the Studio (New Ideas Festival). The company originated in 1918 when a group of enterprising women graduates from the University of Toronto banded together to form one of the city's first theatre companies. Its first offering was Molière's satirical comedy Les Femmes Savantes (performed in English). The group also staged the premieres of such works as Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Ionesco's The Lesson and Pinter's The Caretaker.

About Sarah Daniels:

The critically acclaimed Sarah Daniels has been a prolific writer since her first play premiered at The Royal Court Theatre in 1981. Her plays have appeared at other notable British venues as the National Theatre and the Crucible, among others. She has also written episodes of the soap-operas Grange Hill, EastEnders and Holby City. Daniels has been a member of the board of directors for the theatre company Clean Break. The Gut Girls premiered in 1988 at the Albany Empire in Southeast London. One of the most notable productions was staged at the Deptford Dockyards in 2002, in one of the actual gutting sheds used by the real-life gut girls.