Nigel Shawn Williams to Direct Factory's A LINE IN THE SAND

There's a thin line between brutality and bravery. Factory presents A LINE IN THE SAND, written by Guillermo Verdecchia,Marcus Youssef, directed by Nigel Shawn Williams, and starring John Cleland, Danny Ghantous, and Morgan David Jones.

Nigel Shawn Williams directs the gripping story of an unlikely friendship between a troubled Canadian soldier and a 16-year-old Palestinian boy who meet in the scorched Qatari desert during Operation Desert Shield. Their secret and tenuous friendship comes to an abrupt end with the torture and murder of the teenager inside the Canadian base; an act to which his friend the soldier was a witness, if not a willing participant.

Twenty years ago, A LINE IN THE SAND ripped the benevolent mask off western peacekeeping operations and challenged Canada's long treasured mythology that it is a nation of quiet diplomats. With the current discussions to end Canadian air strikes against ISIS in Iraq, A LINE IN THE SAND continues to challenge Canada's participation in war and the many brutal acts committed in its name.

A LINE IN THE SAND was created in 1995 for the New Play Centre (now Playwrights Centre in Vancouver), and was revised and produced at Tarragon Theatre a year later. The production was also staged at Harbourfront Centre's World Stage Festival in Toronto in 1996, directed by Verdecchia. It won the Chalmers Best New Play Award in 1997, and three MECCA Awards (Montréal English Critics Circle Awards) in 2009.

Guillermo Verdecchia is a director, playwright, dramaturge, and reluctant actor. He is the recipient of the Governor-General's Award for Drama for his play Fonteras Americanas and a four-time winner of the Chalmers Canadian Play Award. His work, which includes the Governor General shortlisted Noam Chomsky Lectures (with Daniel Brooks), the Adventures of Ali & Ali (with Marcus Youssef and Camyar Chai), and Another Country has been anthologized, translated into Spanish and Italian, and produced in Europe and the US. He is a Resident Artist with Soulpepper Theatre where he heads New Play Development.

A LINE IN THE SAND, the Chalmers Award-winning play, was Marcus Youssef's first full-length work, and the first of three collaborations with Guillermo Verdecchia. His other plays include Winners and Losers, Leftovers, Jabber, How Has My Love Affected You?, Ali and Ali and the aXes of Evil, Adrift, and Peter Panties. These have been performed at major festivals and theatres across North America, Australia and Europe and have been translated into multiple languages and published by Talonbooks and Playwrights Canada Press. Marcus co-founded the East Van artist-run production centre Progress Lab 1422 and is artistic director of Vancouver's Neworld Theatre.

A LINE IN THE SAND features performances by Dora Award-Winner John Cleland as Colonel (Late Company/Theatre Centre, This is War/Prairie Theatre Exchange, A Midsummer Night's Dream/Canadian Stage); Ryerson Theatre School student Danny Ghantous as Sadiq (You Can't Take it With You, Adult Entertainment, Filthy Rich//Ryerson Theatre); and Australian-born Toronto- based Morgan David Jones as Mercer (A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Cate Blanchett/Sydney Theatre Company, Romeo and Juliet/Citadel Theatre).

Stripped down to the most fundamental and striking elements, the Naked Season pares down theatre to a series of pure encounters between the audience, the actors, and the text. A LINE IN THE SAND is presented as part of a seasonette that also includes: SALT-WATER MOON, written by David French, and directed by Ravi Jain, February 23 - March 13 in the Mainspace Theatre; and THE CRACKWALKER, written and directed by Judith Thompson, March 22 - April 10 in the Mainspace Theatre.

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