Trudeau Stories comes to London's Grand Theatre 03/03-03/06

The Grand Theatre in London just announced that it is bringing the wildly popular Trudeau Stories to London as part of the theatre's UnderGrand Series. Trudeau Stories recently played in Toronto and was a huge hit, with critics raving about the one woman show and encouraging people to get out and see it.

Brooke Johnson became friends with Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 1985 when she was a student at the National Theatre School in Montreal. It had been a year and a half since Trudeau had stepped down as Prime Minister, and Trudeau now found himself walking to work, washing dishes and putting peanut butter on toast - all the while hanging around with Brooke.

The two developed a close friendship, and through reminiscences, journal entries and correspondence Brooke brings the story of their friendship to life on stage in Trudeau Stories. It is a private insight into the man and the times, and it is about love, friendship and loss.

BWW got the chance to speak with Lindsay Anne Black, who did set design for Trudeau Stories and gave us a bit of insight into just how accurate and historical this show really is. The floorcloth she designed for the production is an "in-the-style-of" design and uses the colours and textures of the actual terrazzo floor that was in Trudeau's house in Montreal. The original was designed by Ernest Cormier. Black worked to design a pattern that gave feeling to the original, but also fit with the size of the workspace and with Brooke's movements and patters throughout the show. The end result is a lovely piece of set design that lets the audience have an added unique "glimpse" into Trudeau's world.

Black also explained to BWW that there is a very special authenticity to this production, as Brooke saved Trudeau's letters and answering machine messages, so when she references various letters or moments in her storytelling, the people involved with the show actually had the chance to see the originals.  This is something that rarely happens in theatre anymore, and as Lindsay said, it was a truly "grounding" moment.  Things like this, that may seem small, really help shape a story and add to the emotion behind the piece.  Confronting artifacts that actually make up the memories of the unique friendship Brooke and Trudeau shared, and having them available to share with all the people involved in the production, help bring the story to life.

Trudeau Stories only runs from March 3rd to the 6th, so get tickets now to avoid missing out on this unique experience!

When and Where?
Trudeau Stories
The Grand Theatre
471 Richmond Street, London ON N6A 3E4

For tickets call (519) 672-8800 or click www.grandtheatre.com

Performance dates are as follows:

Wednesday March 3 at 8 p.m.
Thursday March 4 at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Friday March 5 at 8 p.m.
Saturday March 6 at 8 p.m.

For more information please visit http://www.trudeaustories.com/

 

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