Canadian Stage to Present Daniel MacIvor's WHO KILLED SPALDING GRAY?

After a limited engagement in 2015, Canadian Stage will present an extended Toronto run of Who Killed Spalding Gray?, the latest solo piece written and performed by acclaimed Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor (The Best Brothers) and produced by reWork Productions. Directed by Daniel Brooks with dramaturgy by Iris Turcott, Who Killed Spalding Gray? will be on stage at the Berkeley St. Theatre from November 30 to December 11.

On the weekend of January 11, 2004, celebrated American monologist Spalding Gray ended his life by jumping off the Staten Island Ferry in New York. That same weekend, on the other side of the country, Daniel MacIvor was spending three days in California in a series of sessions with a man who had offered to save his life. Linking these two real stories is a wholly original fiction derived from the obsessions of Gray and the inventions of MacIvor about a man namEd Howard who had forgotten how to live.

A pioneer of confessional storytelling, actor/writer Spalding Gray (1941-2004) transformed his travels, manias and personal traumas into a series of lauded monologues including Swimming to Cambodia (adapted into film by Jonathan Demme) and Monster in a Box - performed by Gray with only a simple table, glass of water and notebook on stage.

Who Killed Spalding Gray? reunites MacIvor with longtime collaborator, Siminovitch Award-winning director Daniel Brooks. The latest in a collaborative body of work that spans over 25 years, Spalding Gray joins the ranks of such signature Brooks-directed MacIvor monologues that include House, Here Lies Henry, Monster and This is What Happens Next. Part homage, part invention and part autobiography, MacIvor's newest solo turn gives audiences the opportunity to experience the charismatic performer at his most personal, grappling with questions surrounding truth, fiction and self-forgiveness.

The presentation of Who Killed Spalding Gray? will be dedicated to the memory of the late Canadian dramaturge Iris Turcott, who passed away in September 2016. The former Canadian Stage dramaturge-in-residence championed several generations of the country's foremost playwrights, from Daniel MacIvor to Tomson Highway and Judith Thompson. Who Killed Spalding Gray? was among Turcott's final dramaturgical projects.

"Iris' trajectory as a dramaturge of new Canadian work was inextricably connected to Canadian Stage's new play development for more than a decade, and her legacy for this company and to Canadian theatre has remainEd Strong and deeply impactful. We join our community of peers in remembering and celebrating Iris," said Matthew Jocelyn, Canadian Stage Artistic & General Director.

To read Daniel MacIvor's In Memoriam tribute, click here.

Who Killed Spalding Gray? will be on stage at the Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre (26 Berkeley St.) from November 30 to December 11. Performances run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8 pm, Friday at 7 pm, with a 1pm matinee on Wednesday, December 7 and Sunday, December 11. Tickets from $39 to $69 are available online, by phone at 416.368.3110, or in person at the Berkeley Street box office. For details visit www.canadianstage.com/online/spalding.

Founded in 1987, Canadian Stage is one of the country's leading not-for-profit Contemporary Theatre companies, with the 16.17 season marking the organization's 29th season. Led by Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn and Managing Director Su Hutchinson, Canadian Stage produces and showcases innovative theatre from Canada and around the world, allowing its audience to encounter daring work guided by a strong directorial vision and a 21st-century aesthetic. The company prides itself on presenting multidisciplinary pieces and work in translation that pushes the boundaries of form and style. Canadian Stage reinforces the presence of Canadian art and artists within an international context through work that mirrors the cultural diversity of Toronto. The company stages an annual season of work at three major venues (the Bluma Appel Theatre, the Berkeley Street Theatre and the High Park Amphitheatre) and runs a series of artist development and education initiatives, as well as youth and community outreach programs. For more information, visit canadianstage.com.

reWork is a theatre company with a focus on the continued development of production through public workshops and international touring. Our creative energies are equally focused on all elements of production: performance, text, direction, design and marketing. We believe that theatre is an essential service to the human spirit and aspire to both enlighten and entertain. For more information, visit reworkproductions.com.

Who Killed Spalding Gray? was developed through workshops supported by Factory Theatre and Necessary Angel Theatre. It was first performed in the winter of 2014 as two public workshops in Toronto at Factory Theatre and then in June 2014 as four performances in the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia at Eastern Front's Studio Theatre.

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