'Doubt' and 'Boys In The Photograph' To Headline Manitoba's Season

Manitoba Theatre Centre is excited to announce the playbill for the 2008/09 season. "The end of our birthday doesn't mean the party's over!" said Steven Schipper, MTC's Artistic Director.  "Buoyed by Manitoba's artists and audiences, MTC will strive to keep our momentum going into our 51st season."
 
MTC mainstage:

Pride and Prejudice
By Jane Austen
Original adaptation by James Maxwell
Revised by Alan Stanford
Directed by Robb Paterson
October 16 to November 8, 2008
Preview October 15

Jane Austen's beloved novel is brought to life in an exciting adaptation. This sparkling romantic comedy follows the Bennets, a family blessed with five daughters who flirt and struggle with societal expectations of marriage in class-conscious 19th century England. In a game of status versus common sense, the witty, independent Elizabeth Bennet meets her match in the arrogant but honourable Darcy. With romance and humour, this timeless play of love and misunderstanding brings to life all the majesty and splendour of one of the great English novels.  

Medea, Freely adapted by Robinson Jeffers
From the play by Euripides
Directed by Miles Potter
Starring Seana McKenna and featuring Scott Wentworth
November 20 to December 13, 2008
Preview November 19

The tragic story of a woman scorned, Euripides' great drama of romantic obsession tells the tale of the princess Medea. For the love of the ambitious adventurer Jason, she betrayed her father and her people, murdered her own brother and lived a lonely life in a contemptuous, alien land. Now, casually dismissed by the arrogant man for whom she has sacrificed everything, she plans a terrible revenge. Medea is a co-production with David Mirvish.
 

Jitters
By David French
January 1 to 24, 2009
Preview December 31

A sophisticated backstage comedy, Jitters opens during a dress rehearsal of a new Canadian play, The Care and Treatment of Roses. Within minutes, the actors – and the audience – are plunged into the world of the theatre, home to easily bruised egos, instant loves and hates, and differing interpretations of role, script and life. Faulty props, lost lines and a bad review help to further complicate matters, all of which is magnified by opening night "jitters".
 

The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful rEdhead
By Robert Hewett
February 5 to 28, 2009
Preview February 4

The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead is a seven-sided love triangle that doesn't reveal all its secrets until the final curtain. Everyone has their own story to tell about the day a deserted wife and mother goes berserk in a shopping mall. Life in a quiet neighbourhood is turned upside down when the lives of friends and strangers are woven together, and then abruptly torn apart. Nothing is as it seems on the surface in this play about the consequences of love, betrayal and revenge.   
 
Doubt
A Parable
By John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Miles Potter
March 12 to April 4, 2009
Preview March 11

What do you do when you're not sure?  

Set at a Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964, Doubt is the story of strong-minded nun who grows suspicious of the attentions of a young priest towards a new student. Setting a course by her suspicions, Sister Aloysius charges the priest with her unproven allegations, even though she risks destroying her own career as well as his. But the truth must come out, and she is convinced that she knows the truth … or is she? Doubt is a co-production with Theatre Calgary.
 

The Boys in the Photograph
Book and Lyrics by Ben Elton
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Ben Elton
April 23 to May 16, 2009
Previews April 17 & 18, 20-22

The Boys in the Photograph is a coming-of-age story about a group of young men and women in Belfast in the late 1960s who are involved with a local soccer team at the start of a 30-year civil war. Some are drawn into the conflict, while others stand aside wanting only to be allowed to live and love in peace. It is a story of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation, told with humour and compassion in a powerful and passionate musical. Both funny and heartbreaking, The Boys in the Photograph pulls no punches when exploring the reality of sectarian conflict, but is nonetheless a joyous celebration of the freedom that love can bring. The Boys in the Photograph is a co-production with David Mirvish.