CONSTELLATIONS and More Slated for Centaur Theatre's 48th Season

Artistic and Executive Director, Roy Surette, assures that theatre lovers will be SWEPT AWAY by Centaur Theatre's 48th season.

Three international hits and three Canadian successes transport audiences to an array of diverse worlds where anything is possible, where new ways of seeing, thinking and feeling exist. Tragedy and triumph, vulnerability and veracity, the complexities of global and community issues, the subtleties of personal interactions; each 2016-2017 production is an adventure into the boundless embrace of the heart and the unpredictable depths of the soul. Coupled with outstanding ancillary events, including the remount of a Quebec classic and an original Asian Canadian story headlining the Wildside Festival, Season 48 soars to new heights.

"Life is a shared journey into the unknown and stories are landmarks and compass points we can use to guide us. They allow us to step back from life's challenges to discover new perspectives and fresh outlooks that enrich our lives and relationships," said Roy Surette. "The people in these plays are in many ways familiar and ordinary but they are also extraordinary and surprising and bring us to the brink of new discoveries about ourselves and the world that we live in now. We invite Montrealers to come fly with us, be SWEPT AWAY to new and different realities where treasures of humour, empathy and wisdom abound."

Centaur's mainstage line-up offers six unique worlds for audiences to explore and experience. Constellations, the recent West End and New York smash, highlights the astonishing potential in every life through infinite combinations of free will and fate in Nick Payne's quirky world of quantum love. Anabelle Soutar's docu-theatrical world takes audiences on a cross-country ride when her family takes action to protect the planet in The Watershed. Trailer-trash kitsch and fine art are colliding worlds, questioning the authenticity of both art and people, in Steven Sacks' riotous Bakersfield Mist, based on true events. Venture into the world of Edouard's disintegrating mind, where a buried memory springs to life, giving him a final chance at redemption in the heartwarming You Will Remember Me, by the Governor General's Award-winning Quebecois playwright, Francois Archambault and translated by Bobby Theodore. In the politically correct world of cross-purpose communication and misunderstanding, hilarity ensues when race and real estate are at stake in Bruce Norris' biting satire, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park. Jump into the perplexing world of the service industry as two gay urbanites triumph over small-town attitudes to establish a new business, home and family in Bed and Breakfast, a fresh Canadian comedy by Mark Crawford.

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CENTAUR THEATRE'S 48TH SEASON LINE-UP:

CONSTELLATIONS

Canadian English-Language Premiere
A Co-production with Canadian Stage Company (Toronto)
Written by Nick Payne
Directed by Peter Hinton
Set and Costume Designer Michael Giafrancesco
Lighting Designer Andrea Lundy
October 4 to 30, 2016

A red hot hit in London's West End and on Broadway!

Two people. Infinite possibilities. A fantastical journey to parallel worlds where Marianne, a physicist, and Roland, a bee keeper, fall in love, over and over again, in a multitude of ways. Every choice they make has a different, life-altering outcome, questioning whether our lives are the result of free will or fate. A romantic, intimate, quantum mechanics comedy about love, friendship, destiny and honey!

THE WATERSHED

Quebec English-Language Premiere
A Porte Parole (Montreal) / Crow's Theatre (Toronto) Co-production
Written by Annabel Soutar
Directed by Chris Abraham
Set and Costume Designer Julie Fox
Lighter Designer Kimberley Purtell
Sound Designer Thomas Ryder Payne
Video Designer Denyse Karn
Starring Laura Condlin, Bruce Dinsmore, Alex Ivanovici, Tanja Jacobs, Ngozi Paul, Eric Peterson, Liisa Repo-Martell and Amelia Sargisson November 8 to December 4, 2016

A family vacation like no other!

Join Seeds playwright, Annabel Soutar, and her family (including the dog) on a comical, cross-country trek to Fort McMurray to get the inside scoop on another probing Canadian story ripped from the headlines. See the complex environmental and economic issues surrounding Alberta's oil sands and Ontario's Experimental Lakes Area, first through the playwright's investigative journalism, then through the optimistic eyes of the next generation. What kid wouldn't jump at the chance to turn their summer holiday into an educational expedition? Last one in the RV has to name all 58 lakes!

BAKERSFIELD MIST

Canadian Premiere
A Co-production with The Arts Club Theatre (Vancouver)
Written by Stephen Sachs
Directed by Roy Surette
January 31 to February 26, 2017

A London and Los Angeles blockbuster inspired by true events

A kitsch-infested trailer park in Southern California. Hard-drinking, chain-smoking, down-and-out, Maude Gutman is convinced she bought an unknown Jackson Pollock masterpiece worth millions at a junk shop. The question is whether the highbrow art expert, Lionel Percy, will agree. He's about to find out what makes art, and people, truly authentic.

YOU WILL REMEMBER ME

Quebec English-language Premiere
Written by Franc?ois Archambault
Translated by Bobby Theodore
Directed by Roy Surette
March 7 to April 2, 2017

Reinvent memory ... resolve the past

Venture into Edouard's slowly changing world, where the highly respected professor, political figure and lady's man can recite famous historical dates but can't remember what he ate for breakfast. When a suppressed memory springs to life in the form of a cell phone-obsessed young girl he confuses for a lost family member, he gets a chance to revisit the past and heal old wounds. A touching and refreshingly funny story about family, memory, and connection.

CLYBOURNE PARK

Quebec English-Language premiere
Written by Bruce Norris
Directed by Ellen David
Set and Costume Designer Michael Eagan
April 4 to 30, 2017

Living side by side with diversity

Travel back in time to Chicago, 1959, to an all-white, middle class neighbourhood. Spinning off of Lorraine Hansberry's seminal play, A Raisin in the Sun, Bev and Russ have sold their house to a black family, upsetting the 'social order' and creating havoc among their friends. Act II fast-forwards to 2009 and the tables are turned when a white couple's attempt to buy and tear down the same house -- now in an all-black neighbourhood -- is met with equal opposition. Bruce Norris looks at prejudice, property, and political correctness, then and now, in a blisteringly funny satire.

Winner: Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award
Nominated for 7 Tony Award and winner of Best Play

BED AND BREAKFAST

Quebec Premiere
In association with Thousand Islands Playhouse
Written by Mark Crawford
Directed by Ashlie Corcoran
Set and Costume Designer Dana Osborne
Lighter Designer Rebecca Picherack
Sound Designer John Gzowski
Starring Mark Crawford and Paul Dunn
April 25 to May 21, 2017

A brand new Canadian comedy; hilarious and heart-warming

In a bold move from urban Toronto to a tiny tourist town, two gay men decide to convert the family residence into a B&B. Playing dozens of male and female characters -- from narrow-minded rednecks to awkward high school boys -- the real estate rat race, reno hell, and small town prejudice test the couple's resolve, with more than a few unexpected and comical plot twists. A touching comedy about living 'out' in the country, family skeletons in the closet, and finding a place to call home.

BEYOND CENTAUR THEATRE'S MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS:

Centaur's Brave New Looks 2016 Selection

creature/creature presents

CHLORINE

Written and originally directed by Florence Longpre? and Nicolas Michon
Translated and directed by Johanna Nutter
October 19 to 29, 2016

When Sarah was nine years old, two young boys forced her to swallow chlorine, leaving her in a state of near total paralysis. Ten years later, she lives as a recluse in the basement of her parents' home in the Quebec countryside until the day Nathan, a young neighbour, is coerced into visiting her. Out of these meetings, a bond is formed: a bond as profound and fragile as the two friends themselves. Based on a true story, Chlorine tests the ties of friendship and the limits of love, proving that when time and space allow, we are all so much more than we appear to be.

The original production of CHLORE, by Le The?a?tre du Grand Cheval, played to great acclaim at The?a?tre La Licorne in 2012 and The?a?tre d'Aujourd'hui in 2014.

This translation was made possible by The Cole Foundation and Playwrights' Workshop Montreal's Emerging Translator Competition, which Ms. Nutter won in 2015, receiving a cash prize and mentorship from Maureen Labonte?.

URBAN TALES

10th Edition
Created in collaboration with The?a?tre Urbi et Orbi
Directed by Harry Standjofski
December 8 to 17, 2016

Bizarre, twisted and endlessly entertaining

New outrageous stories by local playwrights every year, told by some of Montreal's most beloved actors in an intimate cabaret setting. This year's satirical storytelling toasts the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Beware the weak of heart!

WILDSIDE THEATRE FESTIVAL

20th Anniversary

January 5 to 15, 2017

The hottest two weeks in winter

Centaur's no-holds-barred blast-off into the New Year with cutting edge indie theatre, featuring Empire of the Son by Tetsuro Shigematsu (Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre) and the 2016 Best of the Fringe festival. Includes Offside post-show entertainment and the Artside exhibit. An open invitation to the audacious and curious.

THE BLG SATURDAY MORNING CHILDREN'S SERIES

Foster a love of theatre in the next generation! Some of Montreal's most energetic theatre artists create cherished memories for kids from 4 to 12 years old. Fun, affordable family entertainment to awaken the imagination and introduce young people to the enchanting world of live performance.

Centaur Theatre, in association with Just For Laughs and Montreal 375
Presents an encore presentation of Tableau D'Ho?te Theatre's award-winning production of
HOSANNA
Written by Michel Tremblay
Translated by John Van Burek and Bill Glassco
Directed by Mike Payette
Starring Eloi ArchamBaudoin and Davide Chiazzese
July 6 to 23, 2017

Wickedly funny, charming and tender

When Hosanna, a.k.a. Claude Lemieux, returns home in tears after being pranked at a Halloween party, the Cleopatra impersonator is forced to face the illusions and insecurities that surround her. Passionate, fierce, vulnerable ... when the spotlight fades away, who is Hosanna?

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With 6, 5 or 4-play packages, season subscribers save up to 25% and enjoy many advantages, including guaranteed seats to sell-out shows, free exchange dates and discounted tickets to Centaur shows outside the mainstage productions. Current subscribers have until May 5, 2016 to renew their reserved seats or choose new ones. A 6-play package is less than $13.50 per show, which includes a bring-a-friend pass. Seniors, students, under-30s and groups of 20 or more benefit from substantial savings on tickets.

At the forefront of Montreal's cultural scene, Centaur Theatre Company, with its mainstage series and various ancillary programs, continues to offer a diversified repertoire that ranges from world class blockbuster commercial theatre to showcasing local emerging, cutting-edge works. For more information, visit www.centaurtheatre.com or call the Centaur Theatre Box Office at 514-288-3161.

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