Factory Presents BEAUTIFUL MAN

Factory's 49th season concludes with the Toronto premiere of BEAUTIFUL MAN, a searing satire written by Erin Shields, directed by Andrea Donaldson and featuring Ashley Botting, Mayko Nguyen, Sofía Rodrígues, and Jesse LaVercombe, May 4-26, 2019.

BEAUTIFUL MAN turns the tables on gender and power with the simple question, "What if men were the victims of objectification and marginalization rather than women?"

A trio of women are talking about the latest binge-worthy TV show; a police drama with a grizzled female veteran cop, who is also watching a TV show, with an Amazon Queen, who is watching a play...all depicting gradually increasing levels of violence toward men. It is horrifying. And even more so because it is the kind of violence usually reserved for women, and presented as entertainment for men.

Appropriately unsettling, BEAUTIFUL MAN proffers a beautiful man, to be gazed upon throughout the duration of the show, while simultaneously calling out misogyny, sexism, and abuse of power.

Erin Shields is a highly-acclaimed Montreal-based playwright and actor. She was the recipient of the 2011 Governor General's Award for her play If We Were Birds, which premiered at Tarragon Theatre and has been widely produced and translated into French, German, Italian and Albanian. Erin also premiered The Millennial Malcontent and Soliciting Temptation at Tarragon. She has adapted Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea for The Shaw Festival, and Milton's Paradise Lost for The Stratford Festival.

Director Andrea Donaldson was recently named the incoming Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, after serving for several years as Program Director of Write from The Hip, their script development program. Recent directing credits include: Lo (or Dear Mr. Wells, Quiver / Nightwood Theatre; Soliciting Temptation / Tarragon Theatre; The Atomic Weight of Happiness / Theatre Passe Muraille; Snowman / Soulpepper Academy; CLEAVE / National Theatre School; and Romeo & Juliet / Shakespeare in the Ruff.

The cast of exacting women features Ashley Botting as Jennifer, Mayko Nguyen as Sophie and Sofía Rodrígues as Pam, with Jesse LaVercombe as Beautiful Man.

Ashley Botting is an award-winning actor, writer, improviser, singer and alumna of The Second City Mainstage and The Second City Guide to the Symphony. Most recently Ashley remounted her Fringe hit, Ashley With a "Y", a completely improvised musical cabaret, to rave reviews. The show was named NOW Magazine's top comedy show of 2018. Ashley is also a guest-host, writer and regular panelist on CBC Radio One's Because News.

Mayko Nguyen last appeared at Factory in 2016 in the critically-acclaimed production of Salt-Water Moon, which was subsequently remounted by Mirvish Productions. She has also appeared in TomorrowLove, The Unending, and Passion Play. Mayko has been busy working in television and has had regular roles on ReGenesis, Rent-a-Goalie, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, Against the Wall, Rookie Blue, Cracked, Killjoys, and presently, Hudson & Rex.

Sofía Rodrígues most recently appeared in the musical play Noor at the Aga Khan Museum; Pets from Shadowland Theatre; and Nasty and Big Love, both at the Toronto Fringe. Sofía was also a creator and performer for Suitcases, a show about the patient suitcases unearthed at New York's Willard Asylum.

Jesse LaVercombe is an award-winning actor and writer who has performed across Canada and in New York, New Orleans and Minneapolis. Most recently, Jesse has appeared in Bunny, Hamlet, Sequence / Tarragon Theatre; Our Beautiful Sons: Remember Matthew Dinning / Blyth Festival; The Ark: Ibsen on Fogo Island / National Arts Centre; Angels in American Parts l and ll / New Stages.

BEAUTIFUL MAN, a dark, unapologetic, fiercely Feminist response to the systemic oppression and brutalization of women, runs May 4-26, 2019 with opening night on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 8pm.

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