Hudson Village Theatre to Present PEGGY & GRACE, 8/7-25

The comedy at Hudson Village Theatre continues with Peggy & Grace written by Montreal ex-pat Bonnie Laing and directed by HVT's Artistic Director, Heather Markgraf Lowe. This, the fourth and last of the Hudson Village Theatre's (HVT's) summer productions, opens August 8th (with two matinée previews August 7 th and 8th) and runs until Aug. 25th.

Two life-long friends cash in their belongings to purchase a Winnebago and set out on the open road for the adventure of a lifetime. It's Thelma and Louise meets The Golden Girls when the two pick up a handy, young, and easy-on-the-eyes hitchhiker. His presence turns up the heat between the two retired widows who are slowly realizing that stuck in such close quarters, they may not be as compatible as they thought and discover that even the best of friends have secrets to hide.

Bonnie Laing was born and raised in Montreal's east end and now resides just across the Quebec/Ontario border in Glengarry County. She has worked as a teacher, copywriter, editor, public relations executive, marketing director and creative director. Her non-fiction articles have been published in the Globe & Mail, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Life, Toronto Star and TV Guide. She is also the author of A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, a history of the Glengarry Highland Games, and At The Crossroads, a 50th anniversary history of the Glengarry Pioneer Museum. Bonnie's first novel, River Reel,

was published in 2005 and she is currently polishing her second novel, Bemused. Laing has written three plays to date: Having Words, about the difficulties of learning to read as an adult, and Cottage, which chronicles the 30-year friendship of an Anglophone and Francophone sharing a Laurentian cottage between 1970 and 2000. Her first play, Peggy & Grace, has had close to 20 professional productions across Canada, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.

Since graduating the John Abbott College Theatre Program, Adrien Benn has been touring schools for three years with the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company as well as working with local indie companies such as Village Scene Productions (Suddenly Last Summer), 3 Blind Mice (See How They Run), and Fallen Angel Productions (Monster). Like many actors, Adrien lends his voice to the booming video game industry, specifically for Ubisoft's Assassins Creed: Black Flag. Adrien can also be seen in the children's environmental show, Walter, and wrote and starred in his own one-man Fringe show this year, Apocalypse Solo.

A Genie nominee and Daytime Emmy winner, Bronwen Mantel (Peggy) has done it all from film and TV to animated cartoons and the stage. Having recently portrayed the American serial killer, Dorothea Puente, in the bio pic Strangers in my House, Peggy & Grace is a welcome respite for the gifted actress. Bronwen also played Jane Neal in the CBC Movie of the Week production of Louise Penny's Detective Gamache novel, Still Life, and as Adelia Kerouac in the 2012 film of Jack Kerouac's seminal book, On The Road. Notable stage productions include Dr. Vivien Baring in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Wit (Magnus Theatre), Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (Saidye Bronfman Centre) and May in The Affections of May (Centaur).

Joanna Noyes (Grace), a professional actor for over 45 years, is making her Hudson debut fulfilling her dream of sharing the stage with friend and colleague, Bronwen Mantel. Montreal theatre audiences will remember her well as Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Muriel in Balconville, Hannah and various other male and female roles in Angels in America Parts l & ll, Violet in Blessed Are They and Evelyn in Jesus Jello: The Miraculous Confection. Her voice work over the years includes radio drama, narration and dubbing but she's best known as Gramma Thora in the hugely popular children's cartoon series Arthur. This year Noyes was nominated for ACTRA's Outstanding Female Performer for her work in the film Imaginaerum.

As with Harvest, Markgraf Lowe's first production of the summer, she has reassembled the same crackerjack design team with recent John Abbott College graduates Fany Crochetière and Anna Delfino teamed up to share the set design, Bruce Lambie on lighting design and Karen Pearce creating the costumes. Thomas Malone provides the videography chronicling the gals' road trip and Merissa Tordjman stage manages the production.

Tickets for previews are $27, and regular evening performances are $29. To order, call the box office at 450-458-5361, or email hvtbox@videotron.ca.

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