APRES MOI and THE LIST Play Ruby Slippers Theatre, Now thru Feb 1

Ruby Slippers Theatre presents the touching and captivating double bill: Aprés Moi and The List. These English translations of two French Canadian plays will take the audience on a very human journey through love, loss, compassion and memory and remind us that by letting other people in, if only briefly, our life's trajectory can be profoundly altered. Aprés Moi is the English language premiere production (commissioned by Ruby Slippers), is directed by Diane Brown and stars Vancouver theatre veterans Scott Bellis, David Bloom, Jennifer Lines, Chirag Naik and Dawn Petten. The List is directed by Jack Paterson and stars France Perras. With Set and Lights by John Webber, Costumes by Drew Facey and Sound Design by Mishelle Cuttler, the double bill runs today, January 28- February 1, 2015 at Studio 16.

Après Moi by Christian Begin is six versions of the same story, six ways of experiencing the same moment with increasing intimacy. In a motel off Route 117, three rooms are in use. In the first, a man and woman will commit adultery for the first time. In the second, a couple will make love for the last time. In the third, a lonely man wants to die. In each room, a singular, extraordinary event will occur. And when one door opens, will it make any difference to anyone's destiny?

In The List by Jennifer Tremblay, a woman invites us into her kitchen and tells us that her neighbour is dead. The woman, who prides herself on never letting anything slip by, has overlooked an item on her list. Is she culpable in the death? This play is a riveting tale that challenges the audience to see that the essential and the ordinary are inextricably entwined.

Christian Bégin and Jennifer Tremblay are part of a new cohort claiming their own forms of story-telling to map small-scale, personal stories in an artful way. They are aesthetically and intellectually linked by asking, "How is one supposed to live or feel or write authentically in a culture that is attuned more and more to irony, distance, and alienation? How can we get past our increasingly short attention spans, our seeming inability to just sit and listen for two hours, in order to make a real connection with our audience, or with each other?" Both of these playwrights attack these questions with linguistic precision, rigorous composition, and unabashed theatricality.

Diane Brown and Ruby Slippers Theatre have been producing (and directing) the best of the contemporary French Canadian Canon in English translation for decades. RST often commissions the translations, as with Apres Moi. These multi-award winning productions include The Winners, Down Dangerous Passes Road, Life Savers and The Leisure Society. Their work illuminates diverse perspectives and social issues, inspiring independent critical thought and communion.

Ruby Slippers Theatre presents Aprés Moi and The List, directed by Diane Brown. Aprés Moi is written by Christian Bégin and translated by Leanna Brodie. The List is written by Jennifer Tremblay and translated by Shelley Tepperman. Performances run at Studio 16 1555 W 7th Avenue (Map: http://goo.gl/bckmaI). Tickets: $23/$18.5; Box Office: http://rubyslippers.brownpapertickets.com/; Run: January 28- February 1, 2015-8pm, with a $15; Preview on January 27 with 2 2pm matinees on January 31 and February 1. For more, visit www.rubyslippers.ca or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Ruby-Slippers-Theatre.

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