Montreal's Persephone Productions Presents THE FLICK, May 31-June 11

Persephone Productions has announced their upcoming production: the Quebec English-language premiere of Annie Baker's Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Flick, running May 31-June 11, 2023 at Centaur Theatre (453 Saint Francois Xavier St.)

Following the success of Pool (No Water) in September 2022, named a "highlight of the Fall season" by the Montreal Gazette, The Flick is Persephone's sophomore production under the new leadership of Artistic Directors Leila Ghaemi and Rebecca Gibian, and will be the company's first production at the Centaur Theatre.

In a run-down movie theatre in central Massachusetts, three underpaid employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35mm film projectors in the state. Their tiny battles and not-so tiny heartbreaks play out in the empty aisles, becoming more gripping than the movies on screen. With keen insight and a finely-tuned comic eye, The Flick is a hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.

Persephone Productions' mandate is to expand the sphere of the Montreal theatre community and to showcase the work of emerging artists. This production will feature three fresh faces to our Montreal stages: Jamal Azémar (a recent Concordia graduate and effortless talent), Andrew Cameron (a hilarious theatre creative recently back from Toronto), and Caitlyn Sponheimer (a screenwriter and film director making a fitting Montreal stage debut). The Flick's fourth character - a new usher who appears in only a single scene - offers an ideal opportunity to showcase a range of Montreal actor cameos. The Flick is directed by Rebecca Gibian, with assistant direction by Sruti Islam - a writer, editor and publisher also making her Montreal theatre debut.

In a unique and creative twist, audiences attending The Flick will be seated onstage at the Centaur Theatre, facing the rows of seats of the Centaur space which becomes the play's setting - a working movie theatre - thanks to video and sound designer Julian Smith. This allows audiences to peer into the lives of The Flick ushers working within the theatre's own seats, and invites the theatre itself to become a character in the play. What will happen to this movie theatre when it goes mainstream? Can it survive, or will it be forced to go digital? What will become of its audiences, and art lovers? The Flick raises questions that quickly become analogous to the theatre arts. In a post-pandemic landscape, the existential nature of the play becomes all the more vivid to a theatre audience.

Persephone Productions Montreal has been producing theatre that promotes the work of emerging artists in Montreal for over 20 years. A company lauded for its cutting-edge, risk-taking productions, Persephone is dedicated to creating artistically ambitious theatre that tackles challenging subject matter, and to uplifting local emerging talent by creating work that reflects the lives, creative instincts, and artistic values of their artists.

The Flick

May 31-June 11, 2023
Opening Night: June 1, 2023
Centaur Theatre (453 Saint Francois Xavier St.)
Tickets: $30-$40 at centaurtheatre.com
For more information: https://www.facebook.com/PersephoneMTL

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