Tarragon Announces Cast for Morris Panych's SEXTET

Tarragon Theatre presents the world premiere of Sextet, written and directed by the prolific, award-winning Morris Panych, one of Canada's most celebrated playwrights and directors. Chock-full of Panych's trademark wit, this hilarious comic drama about six sexually entangled musicians on an ill-fated winter tour opens November 12 and runs to December 14 (previews from November 5) in Tarragon's Mainspace.

Six musicians find themselves stranded at their hotel in a snowstorm, with only their instruments and each other to keep them warm. Where will everyone sleep when everyone has slept with everyone else? Underscored by their struggles to come to terms with their failing careers, failing marriages and unfulfilled desires, the sextet tries to prepare for a show; weather permitting. How long can they keep their composure before a blizzard of sexual confusion buries them all? This well-orchestrated game of "musical rooms" is also an homage to the transcendent power of beautiful music.

Sextet features a stellar sextet on stage: Damien Atkins (2014 Dora Award for Outstanding Male Performance for Canadian Stage's London Road and nominated for same for Soulpepper's Angels in America Part II: Perestroika), Matthew Edison (Tarragon's An Enemy of the People, The Real World?; Canadian Stage's Proof - Dora nomination); Laura Condlln (The Crucible, The Norman Conquests for Soulpepper; Canadian Stage's THIS - Dora nomination; 11 seasons at the Stratford Festival); Canadian Comedy Award winner Rebecca Northan (Blind Date for World Stage, Harbourfront Centre which then toured to off-Broadway and London's West End; Canadian Stage's Seven Stories, Dream in High Park); Bruce Dow (Dora Award for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre's PIG and Of A Monstrous Child; Helen Hayes nominee; Broadway and Stratford Festival veteran); and Jordan Pettle (Tarragon's Generous and Goodness; Soulpepper's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Ensemble Dora Award, Speed-the-Plow, Glengarry Glen Ross; Outside the March/ Convergence/ Sheep No Wool's Passion Play - Ensemble Dora Award; Zadie's Shoes for Factory Theatre).

Morris Panych is back again at Tarragon, adding to his long list of acclaimed black comedies, including The Amorous Adventures of Anatol, 7 Stories, Vigil, Lawrence and Holloman, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Earshot, The Dishwashers and Benevolence. His plays have garnered countless awards including two Governor General's Literary Awards for Drama (for The Ends of the Earth and Girl in a Goldfish Bowl), fourteen Jessie Richardson Awards, and five Dora Mavor Moore Awards. He has directed over 100 theatre productions across Canada and the U.S. including Parfumerie, The Government Inspector, Blithe Spirit, Ghosts (Soulpepper); The Arsonists, Art, Amadeus, Sweeney Todd and the groundbreaking The Overcoat which toured internationally to great acclaim (Canadian Stage); The Doctor's Dilemma, A Little Night Music, Nothing Sacred, Design for Living, The Admirable Crichton, Our Betters, Arms and the Man (Shaw Festival); and Moby Dick, The Trespassers, Wanderlust (Stratford Festival). The much-lauded A.C.T. (San Francisco) production of Vigil starring Olympia Dukakis and Mario Barricelli was remounted at the Mark Taper Theatre in Los Angeles in 2011. His In Absentia premiered at Montreal's Centaur Theatre in 2012 and The Shoplifters, just this past fall at Arena Stage, Washington DC.

Set and costume design is by Ken MacDonald, winner of the 2014 Dora Award for Outstanding Scenic Design for Tarragon's Marry Me a Little; lighting design is by Dora Award-winning Kimberly Purtell; and sound design is by the Dora Award-winning Thomas Ryder Payne. The stage manager is Kate Porter.

Tarragon Theatre presents the world premiere of Sextet Written and Directed by Morris Panych Starring Damien Atkins, Matthew Edison, Laura Condlln, Rebecca Northan, Bruce Dow, Jordan Pettle Set and Costume Design by Ken MacDonald Lighting Design by Kimberly Purtell Sound Design by Thomas Ryder Payne.

Opens November 12 and runs to December 14, 2014 (previews from November 5) Tarragon Theatre's Mainspace, 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto, M5R 1X3 Tuesday-Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2:30pm and select Saturdays at 2:30pm: Nov.15, Nov. 22, Nov. 29. Regular Tickets: $29-$55 (Previews: $23-$27)

Cheap Seats: For every performance beginning November 13, 10% of the house is available for specially priced $15 tickets at the door, starting at 6pm for evening performances and 1pm for matinees. Tickets can be purchased through Patron Services at 416.531.1827 or by visiting www.tarragontheatre.com