Factory And Thousand Islands Playhouse Present PRAIRIE NURSE

Factory Theatre concludes another successful season under the leadership of Artistic Director Nina Lee Aquino and Managing Director Jonathan Heppner with Marie Beath Badian's PRAIRIE NURSE, a farcical account of real-life events, directed by Sue Miner in the Mainspace April 21 - May 13, 2018. This co-production with Thousand Islands Playhouse will run in Gananoque this summer.

It's winter in the prairies, late 1960s. Two young nurses, just off the plane from the Philippines, arrive at a rural hospital in Arborfield, Saskatchewan - population 300. No one can tell the two nurses apart; including the dim-witted lab technician at the hospital who falls in love with one of them but accidentally courts both. Homesickness, unfamiliar customs, and amorous advances complicate the women's lives.

A culture-clashing comedy of errors with heart, PRAIRIE NURSE was inspired by the playwright's mother and the legacy she and others with similar experiences have contributed to the fabric of Canada.

The seven-person cast of PRAIRIE NURSE features Toronto-based actor, musician, and composer Belinda Corpuz (Anak, Kaldero / Carlos Bulosan Theatre, Through the Bamboo / Soulpepper) as the fresh-faced Filipino nurse, Purificacion "Puring" Saberon; Bob Curry Fellowship Award-winning actor and comedian Isabel Kanaan (Anak / Carlos Bulosan Theatre, Hey '90s Kids, You're Old / North American tour) as Indepencia "Penny" Uy, a 25 year-old Filipino nurse who arrives in Saskatchewan via California; and, making his professional stage debut, Matt Shaw (The Diddlin' Bibbles / Toronto Fringe, Comedy Bar, Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, King John / Shakespeare Bash'd) as Wilfred "Wilf" Klassen, hospital tech by day, hockey goalie by night.

The cast also includes multi award-winning actor and director Layne Coleman (Peace River Country / Tarragon Theatre, Freud / Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company, Hooked / Theatre Pass Muraille) as the hospital caretaker Charlie Govenlock; actor and playwright Mark Crawford (The Winter's Tale, Measure for Measure / Groundling Theatre Company, Bed and Breakfast / Centaur Theatre, Belfry Theatre) as Dr. Miles MacGreggor, a Scottish ex-pat physician; award-winning stage and screen actor Catherine Fitch (eight seasons at the Blyth Festival Theatre, TV series Living In Your Car, This is Wonderland ) as Marie Anne Lussier, the matron of Arborfield Community Hospital; and actor, writer and educator Janelle Hanna (Bad Baby Presents: Rules Control the Fun, Eternal Friendship with a Spotless Smile, Virginia Aldridge, BSc / Toronto Fringe) as Patricia "Patsy" Hackett, the keener candy striper.

PRAIRIE NURSE, written by Marie Beath Badian received its world premiere in 2013 at the Blyth Festival Theatre and was published in 2017 by Scirocco Drama. A Toronto-based theatre maker and Dora Award-nominated playwright, Marie Beath has been Playwright-in-Residence for fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company, a member of the Hot House Creators Unit at Cahoots Theatre Company, part of the Tarragon Playwrights Unit, and a participant in the Playwrights Circle at Soulpepper. She is currently Creator-in-Residence with Blyth Festival Theatre where she is developing a sequel to Prairie Nurse. Her other plays include The Making of St. Jerome, Mind Over Matter and Novena which was also adapted for CBC Radio. PRAIRIE NURSE will have its Saskatchewan premiere this July at The Station Arts Centre in Rosthern, Saskatchewan, and this production will play at the Thousand Islands Playhouse this August.

Director Sue Miner is versed in classical text, puppetry, music theatre, opera, and theatre for young audiences. She has been on the ground floor of many new works from playwrights such as Anna Chatterton, Evalyn Parry, Dave Carley, Marcia Johnson, James O'Reilly, Chris Earle, Shari Hollett, and George Seremba. Directing credits include The Penelopiad / George Brown College, James and the Giant Peach / Young People's Theatre, Prairie Nurse / Blyth Festival Theatre, and Titus Andronicus, Measure for Measure / Shakespeare in the Rough. Sue is co-artistic director of Pea Green Theatre Group, with her husband Mark Brownell, and has directed many shows since 1988 including the 2017 Clique Claque which premiered at the Next Stage Festival, and Three Men in a Boat which continues to tour Canada for a fourth year after performing in Mumbai, India in 2014.

Factory and Thousand Islands Playhouse present the Toronto Premiere of
PRAIRIE NURSE
Written by Marie Beath Badian | Directed by Sue Miner
Featuring Layne Coleman, Belinda Corpuz, Mark Crawford, Catherine Fitch,
Janelle Hanna, Isabel Kanaan, Matt Shaw
Set Design by Jung-Hye Kim | Costume Design by Anna Treusch
Lighting Design by Jareth Li | Sound Design by Lyon Smith
Factory Mainspace
April 21 - May 13, 2018
OPENING NIGHT: Thursday, April 26, 2018 @ 8pm
Tuesday - Saturday @ 8pm, Sunday @ 2pm, Sunday Preview @ 7pm
Single tickets start at just $20 for previews
and range from $30-$50 for regular performances
Student, Arts Worker and Senior prices also available
Purchase in person at Factory, 125 Bathurst Street,
visit factorytheatre.ca or call 416.504.9971

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